It’s no secret that we rarely ever see presidential candidates in Illinois because they’re spending all their time in states like New Hampshire and Iowa. New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) has decided to help out those of us in “flyover country.” They’ve started a website called Primary Place Online where you can vicariously see, hear, and ask questions of the candidates through the residents of Exeter, New Hampshire.

In New Hampshire, voters get to see the candidates face-to-face. The Write-Ups posted here are the words of real people from the Town of Exeter, doing their best to tell you what made an impression on them. We hope you find it useful. You will also see Field Notes. These can come from anyone in New Hampshire — including you if you live here. Everyone can comment on any post and post a question that they think should be put to a candidate.

Jonathan Ahl blogged about this last month, and he sees a lot of benefit in it. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s seemingly a pretty cool way to leverage the power of the Internet to gain access to the candidates. But on the other hand, I’m not sure what more it gives me that I can’t get from C-SPAN and the two billion news and blog reports out on the internet.

I’m also not seeing evidence that submitted questions are being asked of the candidates. Of the questions listed here, not a single answer has been posted. Not that I blame them. If I lived in Exeter, it’s not likely that I would ask a question submitted by some stranger in Peoria, Illinois, when I’m probably going to get only one shot at asking a question at all. (It’s not like each voter has unlimited face time with the candidates, even in New Hampshire.)

The write-ups that Exeter residents give are interesting to read. They give impressions of the candidates that one can only get from a face-to-face encounter. But even though it’s interesting, it doesn’t really make any difference in helping me choose a candidate to support.

Have any of you visited the site? What was your impression?