Dominique Pomerleau wriggled her way through a pack of reporters yesterday at Chez Vachon restaurant in Manchester, the second stop along Fred Thompson's first campaign trip to New Hampshire as a Republican presidential candidate. The 7-year-old waited patiently until the former Tennessee senator noticed her standing next to his chair at the head of the table.

"Hey, honey," Thompson said, grinning as he turned away from a conversation with Manchester city officials. "How you doing?"

"What are you gonna be doing about the war?" Dominique responded.

She was one of dozens of New Hampshire residents who wasted no time trying to feel out the latest presidential candidate as he made his way across the state this weekend. The former Law & Order star spoke to party activists at a chili fest in Stratham on Saturday, shook hands at sports bars in Manchester during the Patriots game yesterday, and touted his background as a U.S. attorney and senator at an afternoon rally at Nashua City Hall, where President John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy in 1960.

Thompson fielded questions on health care, Social Security reform, tax cuts and energy independence, but he said that beefing up homeland security and improving the economy were his top campaign priorities.

He told Dominique that he would "try to do the right thing" about the war if elected, but he stopped short of describing a plan, saying the circumstances surrounding a decision could be different when the next president takes office.

"The main thing is to keep America strong and to let people around the world know that America is strong and united in whatever we do because we don't want you or your brothers or sisters to have to go back down there later on," he said.

It was Thompson's first try at the retail-style politics New Hampshire residents demand. He talked to voters about his two young children, lamented the fact that Tennessee wasn't playing New England yesterday and led a table in singing "Happy Birthday" to a red-faced waitress.

Despite the rain, dozens of people turned out to shake hands with the latest addition to the GOP field at each of the stops, which were announced late yesterday.

The campaign made sure to schedule yesterday's stops before the 1 p.m. game and during halftime so Thompson - and the throng of local and national news media following him - wouldn't interfere with the fans trying to watch the game.

"As long as he's out of here by 1 o'clock, it's fine with me," said Jeremy Meschino, 26, who sat one table over from the candidate at Jillian's in Manchester.

"We asked him if he was a Patriots fan, and he said, 'Well, today I am,' " recalled Bob Ward of Merrimack, who met Thompson during halftime of the Patriots game at PJ O'Sullivans in Manchester. "And that's a good answer."

Thompson told Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta he'd had more fun in the past few days than during the past six months as he considered running.

"It's breaking out of the Beltway and getting past the pundits and all the experts and all the people that make their money off of politics and getting out and talking to people is what it's all about," he said.

But some voters wondered yesterday whether Thompson's big entrance is too late. Bill Carboneau, 38, who met Thompson at PJ O'Sullivans, said he waited too long to visit New Hampshire, a state where most people don't know much more about Thompson than his role as Arthur Branch on Law & Order.

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