Republicans may control the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House. But Democratic presidential hopefuls are beginning their years-long courtship of the Granite State. And Democrats (at least those willing to spend a Saturday listening to potential presidential and congressional candidates) like what they see.

"Shall I compare this to a horse race?" asked Sen. Lou D'Allesandro of Manchester at yesterday's New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention. "We've got a great field." More than 800 Democrats showed up at St. Anselm College in Manchester yesterday, the largest number at a New Hampshire Democratic Party convention in decades, organizers said.

Yesterday's presidential suitors: U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, and former Virginia governor Mark Warner. This early in the game, most state Democrats were holding their cards close to their chests. "I'm clearly in listening mode," said Sen. Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth. But if the convention was any indication, criticism of the war in Iraq, health care and the current administration are sure crowd-pleasers.

"I didn't just write an op-ed about it. I didn't say after the fact, 'Hey, jeez, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.' I just plain voted against it," Feingold said of the war in Iraq. "Why are Democrats so timid to say what everyone in America knows. . . . It's time to get the troops out of Iraq."

Feingold left no one guessing about what he doesn't believe in: No Child Left Behind, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the war in Iraq. As for what he does believe in: health care for all Americans, alternative energy and publicly financed political campaigns. And, of course, rabble-rousing (which Feingold makes sure you know separates him from many other Democratic leaders).

Some members of the Democratic Party say, "Let's not rock the boat," he said. "But I think that's exactly how we lost in 2002 and 2004. We won't win by default. We won't win by just running out the clock."

Going by audience claps, whistles and screams, Feingold won yesterday's match-up. Applause punctuated his half-hour speech about 20 times; thunderous claps met his mention of his attempt to censure President Bush. "The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were not repealed on 9/11," he said.

But Warner -- who came armed with a video featuring Virginians praising his leadership - was no slouch. He rattled off a list of gubernatorial successes, from helping 600,000 residents get health insurance to laying out 700 miles of internet broadband to bringing software jobs to rural Virginia.

Warner's message of national unity didn't inspire much reaction. "My biggest problem with this president is something he hasn't done. . . . He's never asked us to come together as Americans," said Warner, who said he "failed miserably" in the business world before co-founding the cell phone company Nextel. Warner also talked about the need for strong math and science education as the United States competes in an increasingly global economy.

But criticism of Bush (and Warner's endorsement of New Hampshire's first in the nation primary) went over big. "We need an administration that doesn't have an on and off switch when it comes to following the law," Warner declaimed. And more money should go to research into renewable energy: "Of course, that would require an administration that believes in science," he said.

So how do state Democrats plan to narrow the already burgeoning field of potential candidates?

"It has to be a moderate person who's got a record of accomplishment," D'Allesandro said. "The guy who's probably not perceived as a moderate is Kerry. . . . Feingold is to the left of the left. He's a man of conviction."

Some cited tradition. "This country elects governors. It doesn't elect senators," said Rep. Peter Schmidt of Dover.

And some wanted details, not just vague statements of conviction. "We have to understand that it's not just about New Hampshire, and we're responsible for winnowing them out," said Shannan Graham, a delegate. "I want to know how he (Feingold) feels about AIDS in Africa. I want to know how he's going to repeal No Child Left Behind." Referring to former President Bill Clinton's fiscal responsibility, as Feingold did, won't cut it, Graham said. "Going back to Clinton isn't an option."

But what of that other Clinton, the one with $20 million in the bank and a fresh endorsement from New York's state Democratic Party? Numerous Democrats raised the question, unsolicited.

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