Swett to Purchase Senate Nomination "If Necessary"

Nice Dean (4.00 / 1)

An interesting dynamic develops. Where's this race going ? She's kicking metaphorical sand in his face, over money. The Lieberman connection is troubling, but tying him to Obama for credibility, when she's supporting Hillary, is a unique turn.

Next time, there may be no next time.

---

by: Jon Bresler @ Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 23:12:18 PM CDT

I find it strategically troubling (4.00 / 3)

that she's making such a big deal about money when in 2002 Bass slammed her for having so much out of state money.  You'd think she'd have learned to downplay that.

---

by: Laura Clawson @ Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 23:14:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Lieberman campaign? (0.00 / 0)

Does this mean the republicans will be funding her campaign?

---

by: Pat @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 15:12:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

This primary race won't be about Lieberman (4.00 / 1)

But it might be about special interest money and AIPAC. I don't look forward to it.

---

by: elwood @ Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 23:23:39 PM CDT

If you're right... (0.00 / 0)

... that this will be about special interest money (and more specifically AIPAC) then this might not bear well for Lantos-Swett.

Anybody see the introduction of Veep Dick Cheney at the recent AIPAC conference? Take about rolling out the red carpet! Why the hell would you want to be associated with (or take money from)an organization that welcomes/praises IMHO, the worst Veep in U.S. history?

Put Lantos-Swett and AIPAC together and she's got a major thorn in her side for this upcoming election season!

---

by: NH Ex-pat @ Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 07:12:17 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

From Granite Status (0.00 / 0)

today:

The filing deadline for financial reports for federal candidates is March 31.

Swett said she is "enormously encouraged by how well things are going."

Marchand, in a clear reference to Swett's well-proven out-of-state fundraising prowess, said he hopes voters watch "over the long term how much support, as a percentage of all the money raised, is raised in-state."

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 08:50:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Political Chowder (0.00 / 0)

I saw Swett on last week''s political chowder, and she didn't 'wow' me.

She struck me as a very bland, cautious breed of Democrat.  And, yes, the Leiberman connection is very troubling.

I look forward to hearing from Marchand and Buckey.

---

by: Nicholas Gunn @ Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 23:56:30 PM CDT

I'm impressed with Marchand. (0.00 / 0)

I want to meet Swett and Buckey both, and I'm pretty sure any of them would be a helluva lot better than Sununu, but based on what I've seen, Marchand would be someone I'd be actively proud to have in the senate.

---

by: Laura Clawson @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 00:03:18 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Swett misrepresent's Obama on Lieberman (4.00 / 3)

But Swett said her support for Lieberman won't be a problem in the primary.
"Joe has been a leading national Democrat for many years with a very progressive record on a wide range of issues. While some Democrats were dismayed by his decision to run as an Independent following the Connecticut primary, no less a progressive Democrat than Barack Obama chose to support his candidacy," she said.

She is blatantly misrepresenting Obama's position.  However one evaluates Obama's abysmal judgement in endorsing Lieberman in the primary election, he endorsed Ned Lamont after Lamont won the primary and contributed $5,000 to Lamont's campaign through his HopeFund political action committee.  For Swett to claim that he continued to supported Lieberman as an independent is simply dishonest.

---

by: MikeCT @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 04:33:57 AM CDT

The article points that out, too (0.00 / 0)

The statement is blatantly dishonest.

Despite her attempt to put the two in opposition, Obama was one of the Democrats "dismayed by his decision to run as an independent."

---

by: elwood @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 06:03:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well, fine, if she's spending her own (4.00 / 1)

three million.  But, if she's spending other people's money, somebody should clue her in that the ability to waste other people's money is not a talent we need in our representatives.
Touting her spouse's record doesn't strike me as particularly swift either.
On the other hand, I've heard Marchand's praises sung by residents of Portsmouth for years and seems to have a reputation for making sure that money is well spent.

---

by: hannah @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 06:29:22 AM CDT

I note with interest (4.00 / 3)

that Gary Hirshberg, a man of considerable means, one must imagine, not once mentioned money as an advantage in numerous articles he was interviewed and mentioned in.

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 06:51:11 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Katrina Swett and Ann Coulter Have the Same Opinions About Democrats (0.00 / 0)

Not only did Katrina Swett and her husband support Lieberman, they promoted their support on tshirts and lashed-out at fellow dems for the Lieberman primay loss.

Days after Lieberman's loss, Katrina was quoted in the Concord Monitor with this gem of a statement about her fellow Democrats (Link below): http://www.cmonitor....

"Swett believes Lieberman lost because of three perceived Democratic "sins": the sin of supporting the Iraq war and being tough on defense, the sin of being bipartisan and the sin of displaying religious faith."

Usually, a Democrat needs to sit through an Ann Coulter speech to receive this kind of scorn.

In August, I posted a comment on dailykos about this quote hoping that if she or her husband ran for office, all progressives in NH would remember her hate-filled statement to the Monitor (link below).
http://www.dailykos....

The Swett's "in your face" support for Joe went further. On the day of the CT Primary, I was shopping in Shaws in Hooksett which happens to be the closest store to Bow, where the Swetts live, and I spotted a man I didn't immediately recognize wearing a tshirt that said in big type something like "I Support Senator Joe Lieberman". At the time, I thought it odd that someone in NH would want to shove pro-Joe sentiment down my throat, but I didn't think twice and went about buying whatever I was there for. At Christmas, I got an extremely pretensious picture/biography card from the Swetts (I have never met either of them, so they must have sent it to me because I am a delegate of the NH Dem party) and I recognized Katrina's husband as the same man I saw in Shaws wearing the pro-Joe shirt. Apparently, the Swetts sought-out pro-Lieberman tshirts from the Lieberman campaign or went to the trouble to print pro-Lieberman tshirts and then proudly wore those shirts around town. The Swetts don't just support Lieberman, they want to shove their pro-Joe'ness down the throats of those of us who aren't fans of the Connecticut Senator.

Progressives in NH have worked hard to build a state movement that is now turning NH from red to blue against the ill-conceived, DLC-friendly strategies of the likes of the Swetts. When WMUR covered Paul Hode's victory party live on election night, did anyone else see Katrina jump in front of the camera and probably force the WMUR reporter to interview her? Where was she when Hodes ran in 2004 without support from the national party and where was she helping progressives in the run-up to the 2006 victories?

I can't believe her nerve to even think she can now ride that progressive wave into elected office.  Her history supporting Lieberman and deriding Progressives needs to haunt her, and I hope you will help me show every Dem in NH her anti-Dem statement to the Monitor. I will do everything I can to make sure Katrina Swett looses the primary, and I hope all progressives in NH join me. 

---

by: gcdem @ Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 17:45:31 PM CDT

Coupla points (0.00 / 0)

1. The "sin" language appears to be from the Monitor's reporter, not from Swett.

2. I thought it odd that someone in NH would want to shove pro-Joe sentiment down my throat... Wearing an advocacy T-shirt is "shoving sentiment down your throat"???

---

by: elwood @ Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 17:52:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Joe-mentum (0.00 / 0)

the worst phrase ever...it's kind of like momentum in reverse...you lose your momentum and then go over to the dark side...

Next time, there may be no next time.

---

by: Jon Bresler @ Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 21:33:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Really, though (0.00 / 0)

How many New Hampshire activists are going to wear t-shirts for candidates in US Senate Primaries in other states?

It is a pretty solid endorsement if there ever were one.

Unless it was an old t-shirt from the Leiberman '04 days.

---

by: Nicholas Gunn @ Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 21:44:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Swett and Coulter Redux (0.00 / 0)

Basic rules of journalism dictate that unless Katrina or the reporter clarifies otherwise, we are to assume this is an accurate quote. Please contact Eric Moskowitzat at the Monitor and ask for clarification. Was he quoting Katrina accurately or not?

As for Dick's motivation wearing the tshirt, I am sure Dick grabbed it because all his other shirts were in the wash. Certainly, a DLC-er like Dick Swett would never wear a pro-Joe tshirt to a busy grocery store on the day of a nationally covered Connecticut primary in order to send an unavoidable message to "hippies" like me regarding who he thinks should control the Dem party. Right?

---

by: gcdem @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 11:20:34 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Baloney. (0.00 / 0)

Quotation marks around a single word are typically not used to indicate a verbatim quotation, but instead indicate that the word used is slang, jargon, or informal.

And no, I'm not going to spend my time doing footwork for your slurs.

---

by: elwood @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:01:26 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Assuming she said it, will you support Katrina Swett for the Dem nomination? (0.00 / 0)

Elwood, You are disputing the report, so it's reasonable to ask you to contact the Monitor and ask: Was Katrina Swett's statement reported accurately or not? Or, contact Katrina's campaign directly and ask if Katrina disputes the representation of her statements that day? Until we see a statement from the Monitor or from the Swett campaign contradicting the original report, it's perfectly within reason and convention to assume the reporter accurately reported what Katrina said and meant.

The most important question is, assuming Katrina said what was reported, a sweeping, mean-spirited attack on Progressives which happens to match the sentiments of the far right, are you comfortable with Katrina Swett being your nominee for Senate over other Dem candidates?

I am not and I doubt most other Progressives will be comfortable with Katrina given, among many other weaknesses, her disparaging remarks to a local reporter in a moment of emotion.

---

by: gcdem @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 18:28:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No. (0.00 / 0)

I am not disputing the report.

I am disputing gcdem's mischaracterization of the report.

The sort of rhetoric you engage in -- linking Swett and Coulter -- is repugnant to me.

---

by: elwood @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 19:18:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hey, that dKos comment (0.00 / 0)

was in my diary, and it wasn't even about NH.

The intertubes are mysterious indeed.

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 18:54:42 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Calm down! (0.00 / 0)

Katrina Swett is not the enemy.  She is a Democrat, albeit one who may be more conservative than some are.
I checked opensecrets.org; on June 23, 2004 Katrina Swett made a $500 donation to Paul Hodes. Ambassador Swett and Katrina Swett each made a $1,000 donation to Hodes in 2006. 
Speaking of Ambassador Swett, when he was in congress, he voted for the ban on assault rifles, thereby making himself a target for the NRA; this vote is widely credited with why Swett was defeated by Charlie Bass all those many years ago - back when the district was a different district than it is today. 
So, before anyone decides to declare war on the Swetts, you might want to remember that he is a guy who gave up his congressional seat because he voted the right way, not the expedient way and that they both finanically supported Democrats in NH to the tune of $5,000 in aggregate in the '02,04,'06 elections (I am not including non-NH candidates).  Lieberman should have dropped out after the primary, and he has acted like a spoiled brat ever since, but that doesn't detract from what the Swetts have done over the years for Democrats in NH.

---

by: Frodo @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 13:15:46 PM CDT

Rest assured, if Katrina Swett wins the primary, (0.00 / 0)

I'm going to be a one-man cheerleader for her from primary day to election day.

The point of this diary is simple: when a candidate implies that she or he can simply outspend someone else into oblivion, it doesn't go over well with voters. 

Especially when the same candidate got 95% of her money out-of-state, totally outfunded Bass and then lost by a pretty big spread.

As for the Lieberman business, the irony of the screen capture makes clear to me that simply calling Joe a progressive Democrat isn't going to fly anymore.  Joementum 2007 will be a drag on any Democrat who fails to distinguish themselves from his current positions.

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 18:47:06 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Obsession with Lieberman (0.00 / 0)

The money may have been the point of your diary, but some others turned it into a Lieberman redux. No doubt that he has proven himself to be a self absorbed pity party publicity hound, but that doesn't disqualify Swett from rational consideration. Qcdem attacked her saying progressives had worked hard to turn NH from red to blue and that she hadn't helped, which isn't true. Do we let statements go unchallenged because the statement may have been off topic?
As for the money, don't forget that 2002 was a generally bad year for Democrats both in NH and nationally, and that the Iraq war, Bush incompetence and all the rest hadn't dragged Bass down.

---

by: Frodo @ Wed Mar 28, 2007 at 07:24:04 AM CDT

[ Parent ]