OccupyNH to Protest NH Primary

OccupyNH protesters, who were kicked out of a Manchester park last month and saw some members arrested, are regrouping and planning to protest the New Hampshire Primary.

In a posting on the OccupyNH website, organizer Mark Provost said members will travel to several communities – including Exeter, birthplace of the Republican Party – leading up to the Primary to drum up support.

The exact nature of the Primary protest was unclear.

"If we protest in numbers, we will contribute to changing the consciousness of people in New Hampshire and across the country," Provost wrote. "Occupy New Hampshire has a very rare and privileged opportunity to shape the national political debate. We could set the tone for the rest of national primaries."

The group also plans to travel to Keene, Concord, Nashua, Portsmouth and the university towns of Durham, Keene and Plymouth leading up to the Primary on Jan. 10, 2012.

The first-in-the-nation state welcomes various interests every four years. They birddog the candidates, or try to, and they struggle to have their voices heard over the presidential primary tumult.

OWS has drawn some Democrat and independent supporters in the state, and it has drawn the ire of the substantial New Hampshire Tea Party Coalition.

That OccupyNH might protest events ahead of the New Hampshire Primary drew a shrug from Wayne Lesperance, a political science professor at New England College in Henniker, N.H.

"I don't think it's any surprise that they're doing this," Lesperance said. "I think it'd be surprising if they didn't show up."