And now, a few words from the voters

An Obama voter who admired McCain was Mary Benda, who backed McCain in the 2000 GOP primary.

She voted for Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 elections “and I’m not happy with the way things are now.” 

Does Benda see any similarity between McCain and Obama?

“There are some similarities because I think McCain is lot more liberal than he appears to be,” she said. “And he’s his own man.”

On the Republican side, John Donahue, a retiree who is working as a part-time deliveryman, said he backed McCain because “he’s behind what our military has been doing and this country is so great because of its military.”

He added that he considered voting for Mike Huckabee: “He’s very colorful, he’s got a nice personality. Even Obama presents himself nicely; he’s going to do a hell of a job on Hillary, I think. I’m a registered Republican, but I think it’ll be a Democrat who makes it” in November.

Siding with Giuliani
"I voted for Giuliani. Haven’t heard that all day, have you?" said Sherry Merrifield, a research scientist, after she voted in mid-afternoon.

John Donahue cast his ballot for Sen. John McCain Tuesday at the Exeter, N.H. town hall.

Merrifield said media reports of McCain making a good showing in New Hampshire "are skewing people already. You may not be reporting results, but they’re measuring the spread already on all the talk shows: they've got McCain out there and Romney right behind him. So it is influencing those who’re switching between McCain and Giuliani.”

She said she that "McCain and Giuliani are similar on a lot of issues," but she cast her ballot for Giuliani because "although I’m a Republican, I do believe in civil unions and gay marriage. And Giuliani is much stronger in some of his foreign policy, so that's why I made that choice."

She added that Giuliani “may still have a chance” to win the nomination, “but it's probably is going to be McCain. I was debating all the way driving here whether I should switch to McCain but I have to go with what I believe in.”

A Romney voter worried about amnesty
Judith Cole, who works at the Timberland Company in Exeter, said she voted for Mitt Romney.

“I think he’d be an honest president. Just knowing the faith he’s involved in, he’d have to be honest,” she said referring to his Mormonism.

She says she's not a Mormon, but believes, “...they have a very good faith, very honest.”

She said she had wavered between Mitt Romney and McCain, but explained that “I know he’d be honest too. It just seems like the immigration/border thing could be a problem. He’s from a border state and I think he would be more sympathetic with immigrants.”

So she’s worried McCain isn’t strong enough on the immigration issue? “He hasn’t been in the past,” she replied.

Susan Shanelaris, a registered Republican and Romney supporter, showed up to vote Tuesday morning with her two-month old daughter Sela in her arms. Shanelaris said, “I like that has Romney actually done something for health care” by implementing a plan for complete insurance coverage in Massachusetts. “Whether or not it will work, I don’t know. I also like his stance on immigration.”

McCain? “I considered him briefly until I heard about his immigration policy, the amnesty issue,” Shanelaris said.

Would she have considered voting for any Democrats? “I actually considered Joe Biden but he dropped out. He and (Connecticut Sen.) Chris Dodd both were very well qualified and have done a lot during their terms in the Senate. Biden didn’t do a lot of double speak — he meant what he said.”

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