Hard to believe, but Election Day is now just three weeks away. It is one of the most important elections this state and nation have ever faced and it is crucial that New Hampshire voters act to protect their pocketbooks and their families' safety, security, and liberty.

In U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, New Hampshire is fortunate to have one of the brightest, most innovative and hardest-working representatives this or any other state has sent to Washington in decades. It isn't a question of whether Sununu "deserves'' another term; it should be clear to New Hampshire voters, no matter their political affiliation, that this superb, independent-minded young man is exactly what is needed in this crucial time.

John Sununu is highly regarded by political friend and foe alike. He is his own man who has consistently put principle above party (witness his call for the ouster of President Bush's Attorney General for political shenanigans and his insistence on civil rights protections in a revised Patriot Act).

He is the youngest member of a Senate that relies way too much on party hacks who do whatever their party or its backers demand. Just imagine putting his opponent, Jeanne Shaheen, in that chamber. With her backing of an outrageous "card-check'' move to publicly bully workers into joining unions, she has made clear to whom she owes her vote.

Labor bosses, Hollywood bigshots, and the Democrats' national machine are pouring tens of millions of dollars into New Hampshire in an attempt to buy this election. We don't think that New Hampshire's independent-minded voters will allow that.