The AARP will frequent this summer's political circuit as much as the candidates, pouring resources into putting affordable health care and secure retirement at the forefront of voters' minds.

For months, AARP has been quietly bolstering its presence in early primary states, hiring staff, buying ads and recruiting legions of volunteers. Yesterday, it formally announced its efforts in New Hampshire on the State House lawn. The rally featured trappings typical of political affairs: Free hamburgers, informational fliers and a soundtrack heavy on Bruce Springsteen, but the AARP's efforts are unusual for their size, scope and participants.

The campaign, dubbed Divided We Fail, brings the AARP together with the Service Employees International Union, which represents health care workers and state employees, and the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives. The three groups, along with other organizations such as the American Heart Association, hope to recruit hundreds of thousands of people willing to tell candidates why health care and financial security matter to them.

"I want this to be the last primary election in history where we talk about health care," SEIU President Andy Stern said. "It's time we stop talking about it and start doing something."

As a nonprofit, AARP doesn't have to comply with the same financial reporting rules as political action committees, and it cannot endorse a specific candidate or party. Lance Kilpatrick, Divided We Fail's state campaign director, won't disclose his budget, but he says the group means business.

"This is a campaign . . . that's jacked up on steroids," Kilpatrick said in a telephone interview earlier this month. "We're not talking major presidential campaign levels, at least here in New Hampshire, but as far as issue campaigns go, there's not another as committed to pushing its issues forward."

Seven full-time staff members have joined AARP in recent months, compared with the one additional person brought on in 2004, and the organization was a major advertiser during the presidential debates earlier this month. Its ads, featuring children expounding on pensions, health care and Social Security, are also running on local stations. AARP spent about $13,000 for spots on WMUR during three weeks in late March and early April.

Divided We Fail won't endorse specific candidates or parties. It will promote what its flier calls "broad-based, bipartisan solutions" that improve health care, Social Security and private pensions. The group plans to participate in the primary and general election and hold politicians accountable once they're in office.

AARP hopes to reach beyond its traditional, older-than-50 membership - about 228,000 people in New Hampshire - and work with voters of all stripes.

"We will use our collective networks and outreach efforts to get Americans of all ages, backgrounds and political affiliations involved," AARP chief executive officer Bill Novelli said in a written release.

If the crowd that gathered yesterday was any indication, Novelli and his colleagues mean it: The State House lawn was awash in retirees and baby boomers, but plenty of 20- and 30-somethings attended, too. Staff members for various presidential candidates circulated the crowd, divesting themselves of stickers and buttons. Local supporters of Bono's anti-poverty group, One, stopped by. Environmentalists roamed the lawn talking about global warming. And then there was "Topsy," the canary-yellow, upside-down school bus that PrioritiesNH parked nearby to illustrate its members' discontent with national budget priorities.

Local politicians, Republicans and Democrats, milled about. Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, ventured into the sweltering sunshine to shake hands and smile for pictures. Kits provided to reporters included a press release from Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, thanking the campaign for supporting his proposal to more thoroughly analyze Medicare data.

Volunteers passed out burgers and ice cream and sought signatures from rally goers and passers-by, including a couple of city parking attendants who stopped at the sign-up table.

While many of the younger people at the rally came because of their involvement with a union or political campaign, a few just liked the message. Ryan Comfort, 23, had met some Divided We Fail volunteers at a Hillary Clinton event. He found their ideas pertinent to his start-up website, findependent.com, which helps recent college graduates become financially independent.

"Young people just don't get up and say anything," he said, wearing one of the movement's signature red T-shirts. "There are so many things out of our reach. What's going to happen when the baby boomers reach retirement?"

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