We need a high turnout on election day for a sweeping victory on all levels, giving us control of the State House. There is nothing that will draw out the voters more than a high-profile race between Paul Hodes and Charlie Bass.

The good news is that not only is Hodes leading Bass right now, according to the most recent poll commissioned by the Nashua Telegraph, but he has just received his first critical endorsement from a major granite state newspaper: The Concord Monitor.