Manchester attorney and businessman Ovide Lamontagne deserves to be elected governor this Tuesday if for no other reason than his remarkable patience and calm in the face of outrageous smears against his good name and record. We are surprised that his opponent and her gang haven't asked Ovide when he stopped beating his wife.

There are plenty of reasons to elect Lamontagne governor. But for anyone who has worked with him - in his legal business or at St. Mary's Bank, at Catholic Medical Center, as a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, with CASA, as a foster parent - the charges being made against him are laughable.

The opposition, however, is hoping that by repeating these lies often enough, people who don't know Lamontagne might be persuaded otherwise.

That would be a shame. Lamontagne is one of the most promising, experienced candidates for governor in a long time. He has the business acumen of some, combined with the ability to work with others (it was he, not his opponent, who worked with Gov. John Lynch to try to solve the court-imposed school funding issue).

But unlike Lynch, who is popular because he hasn't offended anyone, Lamontagne will lead. He has set out a course to bring businesses back to New Hampshire and to pay down our huge debt and to stop the growth of government.

The people of New Hampshire ought to let him get to work.