New Hampshire voters celebrate New Year with politics

By Claudia Parsons

LONDONDERRY, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Opening your home to dozens of strangers -- including TV crews, journalists, campaign workers and a presidential hopeful -- might not be everybody's idea of a fun way to celebrate New Year.

But this is New Hampshire -- a state where a 7-year-old will stand quietly and listen to a man 10 times her age talking about politics under the Christmas tree for over an hour.

Most White House hopefuls were in Iowa in the last few days before it opens the presidential nominating battle on Thursday. But Arizona Senator John McCain was focused on the other early voting state, New Hampshire, which holds its primary on January 8.

Teacher Katie Wolff brought her two daughters to a McCain house party in Londonderry on New Year's Eve. While 4-year-old Alison was wriggling on the hallway stairs, 7-year-old Elizabeth stood a few feet from McCain as he discussed terrorism, climate change, the economy and Iraq.

"I thought he was interesting, that he really wanted to help the country," Elizabeth said, rattling off a list of Democratic hopefuls she has also seen in person -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Around 70 or 80 people attended the party hosted by Dan and Terri Synborski, a finance company owner and a nurse who moved to New Hampshire from Pennsylvania more than 20 years ago.

Their daughter Andrea, 22, suggested the party after meeting McCain's campaign staff through her work for the One Campaign, an alliance of more than 100 charities that is pressing all the White House hopefuls to fight global poverty.

"It just kind of mushroomed," said Terri, 49.