The Boring-est NH Primary Ever?

Writing for the New Republic yesterday, longtime political reporter Walter Shapiro claimed this is the most lackluster New Hampshire he's ever seen. This certainly puts things in perspective for me: Other than the Ron Paul event I blogged about on Sunday, it was hard to see much genuine grassroots excitement around the candidates or the process. Which is weird in a way, since the Republican party hasn't had such a wide array of candidates to choose from in awhile--and because the party changed some of its rules for allocating delegates this time around to offset the front loading of primaries (and thus undercutting the early coronation of a single candidate). But the effect of those rules changes and the surprising number of candidates still standing has been far outstripped by the effects of what Shapiro calls "the fix-is-in-feeling that is permeating New Hampshire."

So, we await the results as the last polls close here in 5 minutes--but without much baited breath.