The New Hampshire Primary

Most delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions are selected in presidential primaries. Some state primaries are closed primaries in which only registered members of a political party can vote while other state primaries are open primaries in which anyone can request either a Democratic or Republican ballot in the primary.

The first primary is held in New Hampshire each election year. In 2008, New Hampshire held their January 8 primary.

Obama came in second with 36 percent of the vote against Clinton’s 39 percent of the vote. The speech he gave afterwards, stating that he was still feeling positive became known as the "Yes We Can speech."

Because the New Hampshire primary is first it receives a lot of attention from the politicians and from the media. In a process called frontloading, more state have tried to move their primaries earlier in the process in order to capitalize on the media and political attention.