New Hampshire voters are used to getting lots of early attention from presidential candidates. But this year, Susan Putney wasn't responding to any of the messages from the crop of Democratic hopefuls.

"I kept hearing Clark on CNN and I thought, 'This guy is better than anyone I'm hearing up here,' " Putney said.

Putney soon began volunteering nights and weekends to draft General Wesley Clark and was thrilled when he entered the race. She's continued to use her spare time to help coordinate other volunteers in the campaign.

"I'd say half to three-fourths of these people have never done anything political before besides vote," Putney said. "Clark has inspired us to get involved. One woman told me that she didn't think she could endure four more years of George W. Bush."

Since Bush took office, the American economy has lost 3.3 million private-sector jobs, including 2.5 million manufacturing jobs -- the worst record of any administration since Herbert Hoover.

New Hampshire has been hit hard, as well. The state lost 24,500 manufacturing jobs from August 2000 to August 2003, causing its unemployment rate to increase 61 percent to 4.4 percent overall.

Putney says she thinks the economy is the most important issue to voters in New Hampshire, closely followed by health care. In 2002, 11.2 percent of residents in New Hampshire were without health insurance, a 47 percent increase over two years.

Against this backdrop, Wes Clark will speak at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester Wednesday. In the second of four speeches on his New American Patriotism Tour, Clark will share his economic vision for America.

Michael Contarino is a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester and a supporter of Clark. He'll be at Clark's speech Wednesday. He says he thinks New Hampshire voters are generally concerned about the fiscal policies of the Bush administration.

"Part of the New Hampshire mentality is, you're supposed to pay your bills," Contarino said. "People are not comfortable with deficit spending."

Putney thinks Clark resonates well with New Hampshire voters because of his background.

"He's not a privileged person," she said. "He's one of us. He's not a gazillionare. He's lived the way most of us do. You know, he's had financial opportunities, but he chose to serve his country instead."

Contarino said he thinks Clark is appealing to moderate voters because they are a "natural constituency for Clark's background and message" and more liberal Democrats because they are "horrified by Bush and see Clark as a winner."

Putney agrees, "We have Dean supporters coming over every day because they think Clark can beat Bush, and they want to pick a winner."