New Hampshire, even though it voted for Democrats in 2004 and 2008, has ever since 1992 been seen as a swing state. Obama won New Hampshire with 54.13% of the vote. Kerry got 50.24%. However, its neighbors (Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine) tend to be much more Democratic.
One thing that came to my mind was that New Hampshire might be poorer than its neighbors, and thus more inclined to vote Republican. However, according to this map (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_county_household_median_income_2008.png) it does not appear to be any poorer than its heavily Democratic neighbor: Vermont; in fact, it might even be wealthier.
Well then, maybe the factor coming into play is race. As of the 2000 Census, whites were 97.56% of New Hampshire's population. In Vermont, people of European ancestry account 98.12%. So shouldn't New Hampshire be more liberal? Well, it obviously isn't.
Those are the two biggest indicators of voter tendency in the nation. So, what is to blame for this New English anomaly?
