Welcome to the State, Fred. What Kept You?

And so during this, his maiden voyage since declaring, Thompson will oblige. The next day in Manchester, he drinks coffee with the locals in a restaurant ("That is good coffee," he says), sings "Happy Birthday" to a restaurant manager, visits a sports bar where patrons are getting ready to watch a Patriots game.

"Hello, Fred, welcome to New Hampshire again," says a woman, a Fred fan who actually noticed when he was here the last time.

"I'm going to be here a lot," he promises her.

He talks about tax cuts and illegal immigrants. He tells reporters that he has a nice life, a satisfying life, outside of politics, and that he's running not to pad his r?sum? but to serve his country.

"That's the kind of attitude that allows me to approach it with an open mind and a light heart and putting it in the hands of the people of New Hampshire and the American people," he says. "And the Lord's will be done."

Open mind? Light heart? The people of New Hampshire, like Americans everywhere, want their candidates to want it bad. They want to see them work. They want fire in the belly.

And always, there is looming the other question: Just how much did skipping the debate last week get Thompson off on the wrong foot in New Hampshire?

The New Hampshire Union Leader pronounced itself "less than pleased." Fergus Cullen, chairman of the state Republican Party, who broke with tradition by speaking out about the matter, called Thompson's behavior "insulting" and suggested that Thompson might be "the New Coke," all hype and no flavor. But plenty of folks say, eh.

"It all depends who you talk to," says David Dalrymple, a state rep who's backing Romney and attending the chili-fest with his wife, Janeen, who's undecided. "I thought it was a big deal. I think he snubbed New Hampshire."

"I disagree," Jeneen says.

"Well, there we go again," David says.

The thing is, while the activists of New Hampshire have been monitoring the presidential race with bated breath, many of the average voters of New Hampshire haven't. They may not care so much about what's happened up till now. They'll start to care once they start to pay attention. Dan Hughes, a retired developer and Thompson volunteer, says there is plenty of time for Thompson to get to know the state and win it over.

"It's still early, believe it or not," Hughes says. "It's really just the beginning."

In the meantime, just about all of New Hampshire says, Thompson will need to make good on his promise to keep coming back.

"That's got to happen, and not just for us, but for him," says Michael Castaldo of Dover. After all, Castaldo says, Thompson could stand to polish his stump speech.

If New Hampshire can offer Fred Thompson some advice, it is practice makes perfect, sir. Early and often.