The 10 Laws of New Hampshire Primary Reporting

1. The candidate references Tom Brady.

2. The candidate drops the name of a local eatery (“So, I was eating the Hash Benny at the Red Arrow the other day…”).

3. Reporters (in vain) scan the crowd for African-American faces.

4. Reporters ask each other what “the ethanol of New Hampshire” is.

5. The phrase “right here in New Hampshire” is in the speech.

6. “Live free or die” referenced in Q&A.

7. Man with Sophocles beard and chamois shirt posed among the supporters behind the candidate.

8. Photographers jostle to capture the moment when the candidate looks with dismay at the size of the selfie line.

9. Your “tiny Dixville Notch” story is filed from the Radisson in Manchester.

10. Before hitting “send” to your editor, you check to make sure you didn’t use the phrases “key battleground state,” “fierce independence,” or “Yankee frugality.” You probably used at least two of them.