Little New Hampshire Plays Big Role in Election

It's a busy political week New Hampshire, where Barack Obama and John McCain plan to campaign over the next three days. Joe Biden campaigned in Nashua yesterday after a speech in Boston. Four electoral votes are at play in New Hampshire, and both candidates are aggressively courting voters there. The small state is proving to be a critical battleground for November. McCain took New Hampshire in the primary election; Obama lost it to Hillary Clinton.

Political science professor Dante Scala spoke with WBUR's Bob Oakes about why Massachusetts' neighbor is in play now.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts for Obama Web site is asking voters to "Drive for Change" by joining a caravan to New Hampshire. The Republicans are also turning their attention to the Granite State: A Real Clear Politics average of national polls shows McCain and Obama in a statistical dead heat in New Hampshire. Four years ago, New Hampshire voters favored John Kerry over George W. Bush by a 2 percent margin. In 2000, they favored Bush. (The New Hampshire secretary of state offers past election results in detail.)

Obama visits Dover and Concord on Friday and Manchester on Saturday. McCain visits the state Sunday.

Stay tuned to this election blog for coverage of the political weekend in New Hampshire, and check out NPR's election map for New Hampshire: