Jennifer Donahue Champions the Palin-Ayotte Meme

Good spot. (0.00 / 0)

This seems like a good spot to note some information about Judd Gregg in a National Journal cover story on former governors(subscription) that might be instructive as to working style and attitude.

Gregg said when he was governor, he may have found a set of 10 problems on his desk in the morning, ordered his department heads to solve them, and then checked back with them at 5 p.m. to make sure that the issues had been taken care of -- or he'd call in his subordinates to figure out why things hadn't been fixed.

"For every action there's a reaction, when you're governor," Gregg said. "The legislative branch is inherently built to be inert. It's like putting your hand in Jell-O. You take it out, you've still got the Jell-O. That's the way the Senate is. You do the same issues every year. You do the same issues over and over and over. And they come back, and they come back."

If he "found" ten problems on his desk, somebody put them there and, if they knew they needed to be solved by five o'clock, that's the only kind they'd choose to put there.
And "the legislative branch is ... built to be inert"!  You see what I mean about prejudice?  If that's the attitude he brings to the job, it's no wonder he's got the third poorest voting record in the Senate.

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by: hannah @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 07:15:29 AM CDT

Ayotte the outsider? (4.00 / 1)

Kelly Ayotte is a fine person with many admirable qualities, but one thing she isn't is an "outsider."  In Concord, she is the ultimate insider--- and she has connections even in DC.  

If you want someone who is an outsider and who is totally innocent of the ways of Washington, DC--- Kelly Ayotte isn't your woman.  (For that matter, Paul Hodes wouldn't be your man, either--- but he is more of an outsider than she is.)

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 08:14:37 AM CDT

Ayotte's DC Connections (0.00 / 0)

Got her some ink on The Hill

But Smith noted that Ayotte has an advantage as a female Republican running in the Northeast. He likened her to neighboring Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who turned away a spirited challenge from Rep. Tom Allen (D) last year in a tough atmosphere.

"The electorates in New Hampshire and Maine are similar," Smith said. "Somebody like a Susan Collins or maybe Kelly Ayotte - it remains to be seen - can hold the Republican vote and pick up 3 or 4 percent of the women's vote just because she's a woman."

Ayotte was appointed by Republican Gov. Craig Benson and then reappointed by Lynch despite her political affiliation and despite having opposed Lynch on the parental notification law.

(h/t Pindell)

Yes, Andy. Please keep saying that Ayotte is just like Susan Collins. That will fire up the Ovide LaMontagne mob.

www.KusterforCongress.com  

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 10:08:15 AM CDT

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ARRGGGHHHHH!!!! (4.00 / 3)

I get really annoyed when someone says women will vote for a woman just because she is a woman.  Especially when the man saying it is a - well, a man.    

"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 @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 21:26:02 PM CDT

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It worked well for Jennifer Horn, didn't it? n/t (4.00 / 1)

Doing my best to elect NH Democrats since 1968 and getting better at it every year!

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by: Ray Buckley @ Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 13:06:33 PM CDT

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"The electorates in NH and ME are similar" (4.00 / 2)

Is that the dumbest thing Andy Smith has ever said? I don't keep track.

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by: elwood @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 21:33:24 PM CDT

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Yes, the outcomes between (0.00 / 0)

Sununu and Collins were "similar"!

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by: Dean Barker @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 21:57:45 PM CDT

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Hah! (4.00 / 1)

I'd like to see Olympia Snowe try to survive a NH GOP primary.  Even Gingrich-lackey Charlie Bass is afraid.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 21:33:09 PM CDT

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