Nine members of Harvard Students for Edwards—the self-described “hardcore of the hardcore”—canvassed in New Hampshire on Saturday, as part of a larger group of 24 Harvard College Democrats doing legwork for the Jan. 27 primary. The Edwards volunteers were eager to begin campaigning for their candidate, whom most polls estimate is trailing fellow U.S. presidential candidates Howard B. Dean, John F. Kerry and Wesley K. Clark in New Hampshire.

The students chanted the Edwards jingle on the bus ride from Cambridge to Manchester: “One, we love John Edwards…Two, he’ll win New Hampshire…Three, he’ll win the White House in 2004 four four four!”

Edwards’ biggest fan may in fact be Brittani S. Head ’06, the peppy president of Harvard Students for Edwards. “You know you’re a dork when you can name their offspring,” she said.

Head, who hails from Tennessee, describes her parents as “right-wing evangelical Christians,” but says she has campaigned in New Hampshire almost every weekend since October.

“If voters see that enough people are committed to this candidate enough that they go door to door in freezing weather, it goes a long way,” said College Democrats President-Elect Andy J. Frank ’05, who also campaigned for Edwards on Saturday.

Armed with long voter lists, the volunteers door-dropped campaign literature and platform books in a working-class Manchester, N.H., neighborhood decorated with American flags and Christmas wreaths.

New Hampshire State Senator Joseph A. Foster—who gave his sought-after endorsement to Edwards last month—said that Edwards’ comprehensive policy books would ensure voters learn about Edwards’ platform.

“They throw lit away, but they don’t throw books away,” he said.

On the Streets

New Hampshire, where license plates declare ‘Live Free or Die,’ has historically held the first-in-the-nation primary date, giving elections special significance in the state.

This sense of influence over the nation’s future may account for New Hampshire’s high voter turnout rate, which is 12 percent more than the national average, according to a recently quoted Zogby poll.

And though District of Columbia voters will beat New Hampshire voters to the polls this January—thanks to their new primary date of the first Tuesday in January—the New Hampshire primary is still being viewed as the first litmus test of this primary season.

The Edwards canvassers did not, however, run into many residents who were excited about the primary, which is only a month-and-a-half away.

“I try to stay out of politics as much as possible,” said resident Dana T. Church, who was outside fixing his neighbor’s snow blower when Jessica R. Rosenfeld ’07 approached him with literature.

“I let things ride. One vote can’t make a difference,” Church said. He admitted that he doesn’t vote and didn’t know who was running in the Democratic primary.