by Xiong Maoling, Yan Liang, Hu Yousong

COLEBROOK, the United States, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- In a typical harsh winter, the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire is gripped by biting cold wind and covered by thick layers of snow. For Linda White, owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, a remote town in the northern region of the state, the surging cost of heating is a concern.

The price of heating oil has gone up by 65 percent compared with before the pandemic, White recently told Xinhua. The night before, the temperature in Colebrook dropped to nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius. She now spends nearly 12,000 U.S. dollars annually on heating for her inn.

Inflation is one of the most-cited issues, as Xinhua talked with several voters in different towns across New Hampshire, which held the primary for the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump defeated former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, cementing his front-runner status in the Republican race. As Trump and Haley continue to lash out at each other, voters like White care more about what should be changed and what policies are needed.

At a recent Nikki Haley campaign rally in Derry, New Hampshire, when asked whether the economy is doing well, Thomas Pietruszka answered with a firm "no."

"Yes, I've had a pay increase. My pay increase certainly hasn't kept up with inflation. The cost of everything has gone through the roof," Pietruszka told Xinhua. "Am I better off today than I was three years ago, four years ago? No way."

"I think the country is in perilous times. I think the kids today have a rotten education. They don't have a clue," Pietruszka said. "I think it's time for America to look at new leadership."

Similarly, Paul Harris, who used to work as a fencing coach at a university, told Xinhua that over the 15 years he was there, he just watched "the intellectual capability of the students that were coming in getting worse and worse."

"Our education system in the United States is lacking, and we need to do something to make it better going forward," Harris said.

"I think this country needs to make a course correction in its future," he added.

Retired veteran Charlie, who only gave his first name, told Xinhua that the issues he cares about most are social security and health care. "I'm collecting social security at the poverty level. It's horrible. I just can't believe one of the richest countries in the world, and people go on social security at the poverty level. It's just sad," he said.

"I feel bad for my kids and my grandkids," Charlie said.

Another critical issue on voters' minds is the ballooning national debt, which has recently surpassed a record 34 trillion U.S. dollars.

"I think the most pressing policy is national debt," said Tom Tillotson, one of the six voters who cast the earliest ballots in the state in the remote community of Dixville Notch at midnight Tuesday.

"I worry about my son's ability to pay his taxes 20, 30 years from now, when I'm not around. I worry about his and his children's economic future," Tillotson told Xinhua.

Leslie Otten, another voter from Dixville Notch, said the two things that he cares about the most are the immigration issue and the ongoing effects of inflation.

"Even though inflation is decreasing, now the effects of that are going to be with us for a long time," Otten told Xinhua.

He believes that political division is hindering effective governance. "I think that one of the problems right now is that we're playing around on the margins, with things that aren't really important. The issues are not being dealt with," he said.

White said that there is sometimes a "disconnect" between national decisions and local conditions, with renewable energy policy as an example.

"Every house in northern New Hampshire has been outfitted and plumbed for heating oil. And so to make a conversion (to solar), first of all, it's impossible," White said. "Solar alone would not work here in the North Country. We don't have enough sunny days."

White hopes that policy makers can balance the development of new energy and traditional energy, and don't change energy policies with changes in the ruling party. Enditem

(Sun Ding also contributed to the story.)

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