It was a Tuesday morning much like this one. There was a slight chill in the air as Americans all along the East Coast rose, got the kids off to school, and set out for work. Then American Airlines Flight 11 went off course, and history went with it.

Eleven September 11ths later, we arrive on another Tuesday. This one happens to also be an Election Day.

New Hampshire's party primary elections are being held today. Sacrilege? A dishonor to those who died on Sept. 11? No, just the opposite. There is no better way to mark this somber anniversary than to exercise our freedom to vote.

That is not to say that we simply move on with no acknowledgement of those we lost and those who showed extraordinary heroism on that day. Let us hold our moments of silence, say our prayers, and remember the enormous costs that act of war brought to us all.

But let us not retreat into dark memories and stay there.

We have to carry on on this day just as on every other. We have to continue setting the example for the rest of the world to follow. This nation is a beacon of liberty still, and that beacon shines because of what we do every fall at the ballot box.

Today New Hampshire primary voters decide party nominees for governor, Executive Council, the Legislature and sheriff. From among these people the rest of us will choose our next government. They will decide, among other things, how to spend federal Homeland Security grants, and how our future elections will be run. The choices we make today can have huge consequences. Let us not shirk or ignore them. Let's exercise the freedoms we still, 11 years after 9/11, sometimes take for granted.