Editor's Note: Primary Faces is a regular feature of those who make the NH Primary tick and, most importantly, you the voter.

It was an unlikely alliance.

Jim Splaine, a young Democrat from Portsmouth, was on one side. Mel Thomson, the fiery conservative governor, was on the other side. It was sometime during the 1974-75 legislative session. Despite personal and political differences, the two men joined forces to draft and pass legislation to protect New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status. 

It was unique cooperation, Splaine recalled recently of the late Thomson. It set the course for later election cycles, when people from both parties called a local truce to preserve a state and national tradition.

Today, Splaine is closely watching other states try, once again, to snatch some of New Hampshire's primary thunder. He remains nonplussed, seeing as it is a bit of deja vu. In Bill We Trust, says Splaine, referring to Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who has the authority to set the date of the nation's first primary.