New Hampshire voters get their first look at Jeb Bush, Scott Walker

Jeb Bush and Scott Walker are going out on their first dates with GOP activists in New Hampshire, hoping to make a good impression this weekend with the political leaders who can help their presidential prospects.

The two leading Republican hopefuls in the 2016 race arrive Friday.

Bush, the former Florida governor, kicks off his first political visit to New Hampshire in 15 years with a business roundtable discussion at the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. Then he's off to a house party hosted by Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman who hasn't endorsed in the still-developing campaign.

Walker, the Wisconsin governor making his first Granite State visit since 2012, plans to meet with a host of key leaders such as John Sununu Sr., Scott Brown and Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas before speaking Saturday at a training event for the state GOP.

Compared with 2012, when Mitt Romney seemed to have a lock on winning the New Hampshire GOP primary, the still-emerging 2016 race is wide open. Bush was at the top of a WMUR-Granite State poll taken in February with 17% support, with Walker right behind him with 12% support.

Making a connection is key in a state where retail politicking is a requirement. Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, said it's the little things that count to New Hampshire voters.

For Bush that means saying " 'I'm here to court voters. I'm here to answer questions. I'm not running a coronation,' " Scala said. "He has to take time to listen to voters. He can't just breeze in and out."

In the WMUR-Granite State poll, nearly half (46%) of the state's voters say they don't know enough about Walker, which suggests he's got room to grow. Unlike Bush or Rand Paul, who has a pre-existing relationship with the New Hampshire voters who supported his father's 2012 presidential bid, Walker has a tougher job of introducing himself this weekend.

"He has to live up to the hype in some fashion," Scala said about Walker. "There will be a fair number of conservative to very conservative voters in New Hampshire who are searching for the opponent who can knock off Jeb Bush."

Bush and Walker aren't the only GOP hopefuls giving New Hampshire some love this weekend. Rick Perry, who arrived Thursday, will make stops in four towns on Friday, and Ted Cruz arrives Sunday for a two-day political trip.