Special House Election Tuesday

Peter Sullivan Will Be Great Again! (4.00 / 1)

My old(er) seatmate will add to other Democrats to bring a degree of sanity to the State House.  

[I'm a former has-been House member and State Senator, but I keep "Rep." on my ID name for easy reference of previous posts.]

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 03:51:55 AM UTC

Is he still a pro lifer? (2.00 / 5)

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 12:25:37 PM UTC

I would rather have someone (4.00 / 10)

I would rather have someone who is with me 95% of the time than someone who is against me 100% of the time.

Peter will vote to return Bully O'Brien to the back bench.

He is pro marriage equality, pro worker, pro environment...  Also, we should all remember that Peter was the lone Democrat on the Manchester Board of Aldermen to stand up, speak out and vote against naming a city bridge after Judd Gregg.

Have you told a stranger today about Bill O'Brien and his Tea Party agenda? The people of NH deserve to hear about O'Brien  and his majority committed to destroying New Hampshire and remaking it into a armed survivalist preserve.  

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by: Ray Buckley @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 12:57:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No Democratic majority ever is. (0.00 / 0)

Think big picture.

--
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 18:38:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

"PeadarS" troll-rated this question. (2.17 / 6)

You're not allowed to even ask about his views. Just vote for him.

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by: elwood @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 23:13:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not the point, Elwood (0.00 / 0)

Mr. Xteeth came in with a chip on his shoulder and snark in his voice. He knows full well how I have voted on abortion bills in the past. His only goal was to stir up trouble and weaken the campaign of a Democratic nominee who doesn't check off all of the items on his list to his satisfaction.

Seems like you're cut from the same cloth. Maybe you'd prefer another Rand acolyte in the House?

Nice personal call-out, by the way.

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by: PeadarS @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 23:55:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You don't rate based on (4.00 / 1)

anything except the post.

You are continuously violating site rules.

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by: elwood @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 01:36:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This isn't a primary (4.00 / 8)

I'm a pro choice woman,and I support Peter Sullivan.    



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 00:20:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

So, I take it that the answer is yes? (1.00 / 3)

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 14:03:12 PM UTC

The choice for the voters of ward 3 on Tuesday (4.00 / 3)

is between someone who supports the funding of Planned Parenthood and the Republican who supports Bill O'Brien's agenda.

Have you told a stranger today about Bill O'Brien and his Tea Party agenda? The people of NH deserve to hear about O'Brien  and his majority committed to destroying New Hampshire and remaking it into a armed survivalist preserve.  

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by: Ray Buckley @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 15:34:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mr./Ms. Xteeth... (4.00 / 6)

Let me ask you this.

If you lived in Pennsylvania, would you have undermined Bob Casey's campaign against Rick Santorum because he wasn't 100% pure on a particular issue?

If you lived in Virginia, would you allow George Allen to return to the Senate because Tim Kaine has a more centrist record on reproductive issues?

As I see it, you are willing to let a former member of the Libertarian National Committee win this seat.

Yes, I voted for parental notification. I believed that vote was the right thing to do, and I stand by it. It cost me politically in Democratic and progressive circles, but so be it.

Look at my record. I was the legislator who restored a funding stream for the office of victim services. I'm the guy who wrote the law that says victims of domestic violence can take time off from work to deal with their situation without being fired. I'm the one who worked closely with the domestic violence advocates as a member of the Criminal Justice Committee.

I was the only Manchester alderman to consistently oppose the Gatsas budgets that screwed our kids, our seniors, our poor, and our first responders.

I was the guy who co-sponsored Jay Phinizy's mercury reduction legislation and who helped start the committee to address energy and sustainability in Manchester government.

But if you'd prefer a guy who buys into Ayn Rand's twisted social darwinism, wants to shred the social safety net, roll back environmental protection, eliminate collective bargaining, and toss our mentally ill out on the streets, by all means, keep doing what you're doing.

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by: PeadarS @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 16:26:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And see below (0.00 / 0)

You don't, in fact, know anything about what I might or might not let happen or what I might prefer. I'm not particularly interested in what you see either. Your ultra sensitivity on this subject makes me more nervous than what you said all the times I listened to you answer questions. Have a little confidence in your position if that is what it is. Democrats are all over the map on a whole host of issues and I can't remember my taking part in riding any of them out of town on a rail yet.

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 20:37:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Tea Stater ... or Free Stater? (0.00 / 0)

And IMHO, there's a distinction and free stater is definitely worse.

Muni Savyon is a Ron Paul Free Stater who has this interesting "perspective" on organized society:

Before we can start thinking about this month's topic, "What is government for?", let's see if we can think about a different question: "What is government?".

The answer usually contains one or more of the following phrases: "Society", "Law and order", "Constitution", "Democracy", "Rights", "Defense", "Welfare", "Prevent chaos", "Infrastructure" and "Independence". Yet the most important word, the one which is an essential part of every government, is missing. We don't learn it in school, it is not reported in the news and only very few among us can give the simple and correct answer to that question. So, what is government?

Force.

And we'd be amiss if we didn't mention that, like NH House Speaker Bill O'Brien, Muni was a 2010 endorsed candidate of the Republican Liberty Caucus and hails from the state of Massachusetts.

little camera girl

Zandra Rice Hawkins (Granite State Progress)

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by: Zandra Rice Hawkins @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 16:28:27 PM UTC

Muni is ultra free state (4.00 / 1)

He is so far out of the mainstream that he only recently became a Republican, having previously been a member of the Libertarian National Committee and the Mass. Libertarian State Committee.

I do understand the "tea stater" reference, though. While the Tea Partiers and Free Staters are different groups, they have found common purpose in the O'Brien House. Both groups are dedicated to shredding the safety net, harassing public employees, and rolling back a century of progress.

And both have to be stopped.

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by: PeadarS @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 16:39:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I foresee another win for the D column (4.00 / 4)

Peter, how can one make a contribution to your campaign?

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by: rep. kevin hodges @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 17:34:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Act Blue (0.00 / 0)

https://secure.actblue.com/con...

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by: PeadarS @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 22:35:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm curious as to what the folks here think of that quote. (0.00 / 1)

And this one (from the same link):

The only difference between government and any other agency or organization in existence is that government claims monopoly on the use of force.

Is he wrong?

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by: Graham @ Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 15:12:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Of course he's wrong (4.00 / 2)

There are infinite differences between government and "any other agency or organization." While Muni and the Tea Staters might be unable to focus on anything other than their gun fetish, I think the biggest difference between government and "any other agency or organization" is that we are the government. We are not Coca-Cola or the NRA or any of the other groups that Randian fantasy lovers so adore.

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by: FrankLloydMike @ Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 15:29:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Some truth, obscuring a more important truth (0.00 / 0)

Does anyone believe that absent government, force would not exist? That no thief would be caught and punished? That no family would avenge harm done to one of the clan? And that this rough justice would be a bloody mess?

The role of government is in part to limit and manage the resort to force.

Although libertarians like to speak of the government's police power as nothing but a tax collector function it is far more often used in defense of private property and private liberty.

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by: elwood @ Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 11:52:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sometimes a question is just a question. (0.00 / 0)

Is there any reason to exaggerate like this? Is the choice 95% for you or 100% against you? This is a simple question and would seem to have three answers. Yes. No - he's changed. or I don't know. What is the problem? Hasn't it been shown over and over that Democrats telling the truth is the winning strategy and obfuscation, concealment, or dithering just lumps us in with the Republicants. Now if I had asked if he were related to the article's author then.....................(insert light hearted comment here)

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 20:28:12 PM UTC

It's all relative (4.00 / 5)

We are not related in the sense of sharing great grandparents, but his ancestors, like mine, are from the Beara Peninsula, where the Sullivan Bear clan is from. It is one of the most beautiful places ever, located on the west coast of Ireland. Sadly, most Sullivans were driven out by the British, or by the famine, or by poverty. The Beara was one of the areas hit hardest by the famine. It's why Sullivans tend to be born with chips on our shoulders - we're still pretty ticked off.

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 21:35:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hail the great immigrant masses. (0.00 / 0)

And many of us like you(se) for what you(se) have done and continue to do. You have been there when there were few on the front lines and when there were many. Viva la difference et la resemblance. I really don't think that Democrats need fear difference. The body of thinking that makes us such revels in the unresolved tension.  

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 22:36:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And Then When The Irish Got Here... (4.00 / 4)

...they faced "Irish Need Not Apply" signs.  That's why my grandfather, Thomas B. Spillane, changed the family name to "Splaine."  

I haven't changed it back for me because that would really confuse my friends, but I have been pronouncing my name with two syllables these past ten years or so.  Still confuses my friends, but that might just be me!

[I'm a former has-been House member and State Senator, but I keep "Rep." on my ID name for easy reference of previous posts.]

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 22:51:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nice S'plainin' (4.00 / 4)

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 12:18:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

under Bully O'Brien jobs plan? (4.00 / 3)

"None Need Apply"

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. ~ Mark Twain

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by: JonnyBBad @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 18:07:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

O'Brien jobs plan: cronyism and armies of attorneys challenging the GOP's unconstitutional laws n/t (4.00 / 2)

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by: dooper @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 01:47:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Incredible (0.00 / 0)

Less than 72 hours until a special election against a member of the despicable Free State Project and Elwood spends his energy shooting spitballs at the Democratic nominee. Nice.

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by: PeadarS @ Sat Feb 18, 2012 at 23:59:37 PM UTC

what is truly incredible (2.75 / 4)

is that someone who was banned from BH, for breaking the rules (after repeated warnings)  slithered back in under a not very clever assumed name.

That person didn't contact any of the editors/moderators to ask if they would lift the ban. He didn't act honestly or ethically - and now he has the bad grace to whine because we aren't appropriately grateful for his presence.  

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by: susanthe @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 00:37:22 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Let's focus on Tuesday (4.00 / 7)

And get back to our eternal fights on Wednesday. Please?

Have you told a stranger today about Bill O'Brien and his Tea Party agenda? The people of NH deserve to hear about O'Brien  and his majority committed to destroying New Hampshire and remaking it into a armed survivalist preserve.  

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by: Ray Buckley @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 00:56:13 AM UTC

The BIG PICTURE View From The Seacoast (4.00 / 6)

The arguments in this thread are quite unnecessary.

We could lose marriage equality this Legislative Session.  EVERY vote counts.  Almost 1,900 couples have celebrated their love and caring for one another.  

PLEASE, LET'S KEEP OUR EYES ON THE BIG PICTURE.  Peter Sullivan, who I greatly respect for who he is and his personal and political courage, could be the deciding vote on keeping marriage equality.

WE NEED HIM.  We need every vote.  Argue after Tuesday.  Until then, let him focus on winning -- for New Hampshire, for us.  

[I'm a former has-been House member and State Senator, but I keep "Rep." on my ID name for easy reference of previous posts.]

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 13:47:00 PM UTC

The BIG PICTURE view from the Connecticut River Valley (4.00 / 6)

....is that we should be trying to defeat Republicans, not ourselves. I only know what I have read in this thread - but based upon that, I surely would vote for Peter Sullivan on Tuesday, if I lived in his District.

We have a House to win back. Seat by seat. Ward by ward. District by District.

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by: pberch @ Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 01:25:34 AM UTC

Vote for the best candidate who is running. (2.50 / 2)

And I believe that over and over it has been shown that Democrats do best when they are open and honest about the positions held by their candidates. Not trying to conceal honest positions, not trying to slide by with tomfoolery. Leave that to the Republicans. All of us have voted over and over for people who, in sum, are the best choice for the positions they are gracious enough to seek, but do not share every single position Democrats support. We now have a list of prolife Democrats as long as your arm. Reid is the minority leader in the senate, Jim Webb is senator from Virginia, many others. Is this ideal? I think not. I fail to understand from whence might come the inclination to make decisions for other people, who can make them for themselves, which do little practical harm to you. I think that this comes under the rubric of being an adult. We don't take our toys and go home even when faced with the horror of Republican/Conservative successes. We just keep on truckin'. They are wrong and history has show the results of their theories over and over. The work is there to be done. Let us continue to be open and honest and do it. The way to get better candidates is to support and encourage the ones we have, flawed though they may be. Exaggerated claims of doctrinal purity and perfection merely lead to disenchantment and worst of all apathy.  

Wearing a ring doesn't make you a bath tub.

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by: xteeth @ Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 12:20:51 PM UTC