Anita Perry: Country Needs Return to 'Small-Town' Values [VIDEO]

As the "pollercoaster" ride continues for GOP front-runners, voters are getting a closer look at candidates' better halves here in New Hampshire. Earlier this week Ann Romney made the rounds, sharing personal anecdotes about her husband, Mitt, as a family man and role model for their children and grandchildren.

Saturday it was Anita Perry's turn, wrapping up a series of East Coast engagements by speaking to the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women during their annual meeting at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua.

Perry seemed relaxed and a little road weary as she made the rounds, shaking hands and making small talk, before delivering a brief talk to about 80 or so who had gathered for brunch.

She focused on the couple's mutual background growing up in rural Texas, and how her husband has always been a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" kind of guy, who she imagined might go on to be a farmer like his parents before him.

She described the little community of Paint Creek where her husband grew up as a place where people looked out for one another, reflecting the kind of values that are "timeless," and vitally needed today.

"We were taught that when a neighbor was sick, you pitched in to help them harvest their crops. You watched their children. You took care of their dog. You got the frozen casserole out of the freezer and you took it, and you were there," Mrs. Perry said.

"We were taught the American virtue of self reliance, that anything worth achieving in life took hard work and not a government handout. We were taught that family -- family is the fabric of society," she said. "You look out for one another and respect your parents and your elders, and we were taught the value of faith, that we were blessed to be born in the greatest country in the world, America." 

Among those present for the event was Nancy Sununu, wife of former three-term New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, who was seated at the head table with Mrs. Perry.

She said she and her husband haven't yet settled on a candidate, but are getting close.

"John knows every one of them, and has done business with some of them. He's away in the Middle East, and so we're hoping he has a choice by the time he comes home," she said.

When asked what influence she thinks spouses have over voters in representing candidates out on the campaign trail, Mrs. Sununu said she felt it was an important part of deciding a candidate's electability factor.

"I've made a point of seeing as many of the potential first ladies as I can. I think it's the 'man behind the woman,' in almost every case, except Michele Bachmann, and for me it's important to see the family and the family situation, and listen to the head of the household, so to speak," Mrs. Sununu said.

[For more on Nancy Sununu's take on being a candidate's wife, click on the video link.]