Trump Swoops in on New Hampshire

Real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump is invading Portsmouth, New Hampshire, landing by helicopter at 9:00 Wednesday morning, stirring up yet more speculation that he will make a run on the Oval Office, according to a report in the Washington Post.

On his closely-guarded itinerary: eight stops in as many hours, gripping and grinning with party chiefs. Also reportedly slated is a visit to yet-unnamed local businesses. One report suggests that Trump will drop in on a number of seaside shops after completing a press conference at the airport.

Trump is certainly not the first presidential hopeful to land on the shores of this key primary state, but he is kicking up more dust and star-appeal. Part of that appeal apparently is the tycoon’s penchant for speaking his mind and not holding back.

For example, competing presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who has led some GOP polls, was recently dismissed by Trump as a "small business guy," according to a report in the Boston Globe. Trump added: "I'm a much bigger businessman and have a much, much bigger net worth. I mean my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney."

Whether or not the Trump style plays in New Hampshire remains to be seen. Already there has been a backlash against the secretiveness of his schedule. Although the Trump teem cites security as the reason to keep their chief’s movements unpredictable, some pundits aren’t buying that spin.

“New Hampshire is a wide-open forum, and the fact that Trump is world-famous will neither hurt nor help him,” said Steve Duprey, who helped Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., win the state’s primary in 2008. “But any candidate who comes here who can’t release his schedule has a high hurdle to overcome. You have to engage voters in a localized, one-on-one manner. If security is an impediment, it’s impossible to do well.”