About
Learn More about our progressive online community for the Granite State.

Create an account today (it's free and easy) and get started!
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?


Search




Advanced Search


The Masthead
Managing Editors


Jennifer Daler

Contributing Writers
elwood
Mike Hoefer
susanthe
William Tucker

ActBlue Hampshire

The Roll, Etc.
Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch, finch, beech
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
Tomorrow's Progressives

Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Krauss
Landrigan
Lawson
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Primary Wire
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Welch

Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
Ann McLane Kuster
John Lynch
Jennifer Daler

ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC

National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo

50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Sunday Columns: NH Changes, Town Halls, Candidates, Money, New Media

by: Jennifer Daler

Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 07:33:39 AM EDT


Today's columns have similar themes: The flap over a railroad contract, the decision about JUA money, Rep Peter Schmidt's (D-Dover) question to Obama. Lauren Dorgan's column, her last for the Concord Monitor, is an interesting review of the political changes in New Hampshire since she began writing for the paper five years ago.

The state has moved miles on social issues since then, particularly on gay rights, with the Legislature passing civil unions and gay marriage in quick succession. The parental notification law on abortion is history. The state joined a regional greenhouse gas effort. A new school funding law was passed that Democratic leaders hope will finally end the legal saga that began with Claremont.

These are things to be proud of. And also things the Republicans will repeal if they ever win back majorities in both houses and get the corner office.

Dorgan continues:

You could actually argue that this state has become more libertarian over the past few years: Legislators nixed Real ID, eschewed major new taxes (while approving increases and fees), shot down multiple efforts to require seat belts, and, if you see it this way, widened the gap between church and state by expanding rights to same-sex couples.

 

Jennifer Daler :: Sunday Columns: NH Changes, Town Halls, Candidates, Money, New Media
Dorgan's column also had a distortion. It had to do  with the reason the state retirement system was in such dire straits. NH-GOP chair John H. Sununu wants to rewrite history, and blame the systems' woes on Democrats who actually fixed it. That seems to be the overarching GOP strategy: rewrite history and hope no one notices. Dorgan quotes Jeb Bradley whining about Carol Shea-Porter's attendance at his town hall meetings, as though she yelled, screamed, carried a sidearm and held obscene signs. I think not.

But it does show that Republican political leaders approve of the tea-partier tactics and behavior.

Tom Fahey writes that Republican leaders are pressuring Hodes and Shea-Porter to hold "Town Hall" meetings to give tea partiers another forum to yell and scream and carry on. How that adds to intelligent debate, I do not know.

It wouldn't be a complete week without some political warfare. Last week featured Republicans accusing Hodes and Shea-Porter of hiding from voters by not holding more town hall meetings.

"They're supposed to be out there selling health-care reform," state GOP spokesman Ryan Williams said. "Well, they're all MIA on the issue."

The BIA came out with its state legislative ratings. Surprise, surprise, the Republicans get "A"s and Democrats get "F"s. No partisanship there.

Landrigan gives some fundraising numbers for leading congressional candidates

Kuster's first quarter was impressive, raising $163,097 and spending only $12,722.

Contributors included the top executives at the Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center,

Others chipping in were the widow of Republican Congressman James Cleveland, $1,000; Concord lawyer Bill Chapman, $2,400; ex-state Sen. Burt Cohen, $800; former Republican Senate President Ralph Hough, $500; and ex-Durham Democratic Sen. Katie Wheeler, $500.

CD-01 hopeful Frank Guinta brought in less than $100k, and had to kick in $20k of his own money.

Prominent donors included Manchester real-estate developers Shane and David Brady, $1,000 apiece; Auto Fair CEO Harry Crews, $2,400; ex-GOP State Chairman Steve Duprey, $2,400; Manchester Monarchs executive Jeff Eisenberg, $400; Pan Am Systems President David Fink, $250; retired BAE executive Walt Halverstein, $1,000; ex-U.S. Sen. and state Sen. Gordon Humphrey's wife, Patty, $250; and Manchester GOP state Rep. Will Infantine ,$250.

Landrigan also mentioned Katrina Swett and her huge war chest. The whole thing makes me wish for some kind of campaign finance reform.

A humorous aside in Dorgan was the mention that after saying cameras would be banned from Kelly Ayotte's roll out in Wolfeboro, her handlers relented, allowing WMUR access. But Granite Grok's Doug Lambert was heavily questioned before he was deemed to be worthy as a journalist. New media is getting noticed.

Tags: , , , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
Exclusivity is so tempting. n/t (0.00 / 0)


WaPo guest op ed nails tradmed (4.00 / 1)
I highly recommend this op ed in the Washington Post by Rick Perlstein:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Here is just a part, in which he nails traditional media for its treatment of crazy extremist claims:

It used to be different. You never heard the late Walter Cronkite taking time on the evening news to "debunk" claims that a proposed mental health clinic in Alaska is actually a dumping ground for right-wing critics of the president's program, or giving the people who made those claims time to explain themselves on the air. The media didn't adjudicate the ever-present underbrush of American paranoia as a set of "conservative claims" to weigh, horse-race-style, against liberal claims. Back then, a more confident media unequivocally labeled the civic outrage represented by such discourse as "extremist" -- out of bounds.

The tree of crazy is an ever-present aspect of America's flora. Only now, it's being watered by misguided he-said-she-said reporting and taking over the forest. Latest word is that the enlightened and mild provision in the draft legislation to help elderly people who want living wills -- the one hysterics turned into the "death panel" canard -- is losing favor, according to the Wall Street Journal, because of "complaints over the provision."  





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


I Got a Zero (0.00 / 0)
I am pro-business: I even got a degree in business, which I would not have done if I didn't believe in the value of business.  But I still got 0 out of 8 from the NHBIA.

One odd thing was: lots people who got 1 of 8 got 13%.  But 1/8=exactly 12.5% which rounds to 12%, not 13%.  For people who like to lecture the rest of us about the numbers (and about educational policy), the BIA's grasp of grade-school math is weak.


Rules for rounding (0.00 / 0)
There isn't a single rule.

If you want to be conservative you might round down good news (say, Dem share of voters down) and round up bad news (say, unemployment rate).

Where the data will be used further people often adopt a "round even" (12.5 => 12, 13.5 => 14) or "round odd" rule. That is more likely to total 100%.


[ Parent ]
I worked for Measured progress: (0.00 / 0)
The standard, as taught in school, is round to even.

The problem arose because the BIA used a small number of votes.  Most of the other rankings use about two dozen votes, not just one.


[ Parent ]
"As taught in school" (0.00 / 0)
Yeah, I must have picked it up in a bar.

I defer to you as Keeper of All that is Taught in Every School.


[ Parent ]
The GOP thinks Hodes and Shea Poter should hold town halls? (4.00 / 3)
How about AWOL Judd? Do they view him as already in retirement?


Connect with BH
     
Blue Hampshire Blog on Facebook
Powered by: SoapBlox