New Hampshire Democrats always will remember 2008 fondly as the year they outnumbered Republicans on the statewide voter registration lists.
Despite achieving that milestone, however, nothing much changed at the top of the ticket for the Democrats. In other words, Barack Obama's relative advantage in New Hampshire was equal to John Kerry's four years earlier, in terms of partisan voting index (PVI).
Let's take a look at the Granite State's PVI by congressional district:
First Congressional District
2000: Al Gore won 46 percent of the vote here, 2 points lower than his national vote share.
2004: Kerry carried 48 percent of the vote, even (+ 0) with his national vote share.
2008: Obama took 53 percent of the vote, again even (+ 0) with his national performance.
Second Congressional District
2000: Gore won 48 percent, even with his national vote share.
2004: Kerry, in contrast, ran wild, walking away with 52 percent of the vote, + 4 better than his national performance. NH 02 enabled the Massachusetts senator to flip New Hampshire into his column.
2008: Obama actually fell a little short of Kerry here. He won NH 02 easily with 56 percent of the vote, but that was only + 3 better than his national performance.
In terms of next year's congressional races, it's worth noting that despite a comfortable victory for Carol Shea-Porter in 2008, her district remains a bellwether -- and thus a precarious place, just as her predecessor Jeb Bradley discovered, if a wave develops in favor of the opposing party.
Over in NH 02, however, the eventual Democratic nominee begins the general election race with some protection against a potential wave. And it's the Second District that gives New Hampshire its Democratic tilt for 2012.