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John DiStaso's Republican Status (02/11/10)

by: Dean Barker

Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 06:45:13 AM EST
My weekly book report on John DiStaso's Republican Granite Status (02/11/10), with original headings intact:
AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR: Even though the district in the Boutin-Goley race heavily favors the GOP, if Boutin wins it will be an incredible bellwhether indicator for GOP renaissance in NH.

LOOKING AHEAD: Lookit all the GOP statewide candidates I can mention!

GRAPPONE TO THE RESCUE: Another nice Kelly Ayotte campaign newsletter.

LOCKED OUT: Chamber of Commerce head too important to get tickets to Obama town hall himself, then whines when he can't get in.  (This one is actually really funny.  Not newsworthy by any stretch of the imagination - but funny.)

ABOUT THOSE REP PLATES: Creepy stalker story involving NHGOP's communications director Ryan Williams.  Also not newsworthy, but with the added downer of not being funny. Just sad.

FEELING GOOD: Republicans are great, says UNH poll.

A GOP POLL: Republicans love Tea People, says GOP poll. (No mention of the GOP support for marriage equality in it).

GUINTA KEEPS GOING: Another nice Kelly Ayotte Frank Guinta campaign newsletter.

BEATING ON RICH: Another blurb about a Patrick Hynes' attack which describes him as "conservative blogger" instead of paid GOP operative.

UNDER THE RADAR: Don't forget about Republican Sean Mahoney!

Quick Takes: Assorted news about... Republicans!

Thank goodness the dean of the NH political press was saved from that paywall!
Dean Barker :: John DiStaso's Republican Status (02/11/10)
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John DiStaso's Republican Status (02/11/10) | 12 comments
Fahey's been freed (4.00 / 1)
from his paywall prison.

I was missing his columns, actually.  

those of us from Strafford County were especially amused... (0.00 / 0)
Being from Strafford County, I was amused to see DiStaso touting Fenton Groen as a "strong" opponent to Jackie Cilley.  Fenton has a lot of money and put up some very large signs in his first state Senate run in 2008.  But he was a terrible candidate with a message which terrified his generally liberal Senate district.  Unless something very unexpected happens, Jackie would trounce him in a rematch.

(His younger brother Warren Groen jumped into the race right at the filing deadline and managed to get elected in Rochester with a state House which seemed like an afterthought.  Even though Warren is if anything even more conservative than his brother, he actually knows how to dialog with liberals.)

Republicans like teabaggers? Who knew? (4.00 / 1)
Honestly, every time the conservative movement comes up with a new name for itself, the media is willing to believe there's a brand new voting majority in America, made up of seventy million people nobody noticed before.  They've been doing this since Nixon.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin
It is probably too much to expect that people who don't know (0.00 / 0)
who they are are going to recognize other people for what they are.  There's an interesting report coming out of the UK about bored people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...

In response I would just ask whether the people are bored because they lack self-direction or are they lacking in direction from outside.

[ Parent ]
rep plates (0.00 / 0)
To clarify the story about Scott Merrick's House of Representatives plates.  State reps (along with Senators, Executive Councilors & even the Governor) have the option of wearing special plates on their cars (or motorcycles: the Speaker is a "rider" who has a set of Speaker motorcycle plates.)  These let you get through the tolls free, park at state parks free, and park in the two State House parking garages.  BUT you also have to have regular plates and you are supposed to carry those in your car. Technically, I don't know if they have to be NH plates.

Scott Merrick apparently was driving with expired NH plates, but that would be a problem even if he was a still a member of the House.  Merrick is living temporarily in Somerville, Massachusetts while commuting to Manchester, NH. However, he does still maintain a domicile in Lancaster, NH.  

Bit in any case, it is still creepy that a Republican operative felt the need to stalk Merrick; especially given that someone else could have legitimately gotten a set of "Assistant Majority Leader 4" plates.

Umm, question? (0.00 / 0)
It was my understanding that the plates are only to be used at the tolls when you are on official business, not whenever you go throught the tolls. It has been a long time, but my late mother was a state rep, and she hammered into our little heads that when borrowing the family auto, we had to pay the tolls as we were not on state business. So, when you say go through the tolls free, I hope you mean only when on official state business.


"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    
[ Parent ]
oh for crying out loud, Kathy... (0.00 / 0)
Legislators only get paid $100/yr.  Surely the state can still afford to let them go through the tolls for free even when on unofficial business.

[ Parent ]
Nope. n/t (0.00 / 0)


"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    
[ Parent ]
when my sister was learning to drive (0.00 / 0)
My father was a state rep and when my sister was learning to drive, she thought it was a hoot to loop back around and go through the Hampton toll booth 2 or 3 times more than necessary when we were on our way to Hampton beach.  However, we did pay to park at the state park parking lot.  That particular sister now lives in Massachsuetts and seems to be unaware of how miserable things are down there.
[ Parent ]
News Fail. (4.00 / 2)
I'd love to hear why a former legislator NOT improperly costing the state a single-digit number of dollars deserves 412 words in a statewide newspaper.

The only thing remotely newsworthy is the pettiness of trying to use this case-study in non-stories as a political attack.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

[ Parent ]
There's a certain breed of "Inspector Clouseau" Republican activist (0.00 / 0)
The Pizza Cook Who Shall Not Be Named is notorious for following Manchester Dems around at all hours, trying to access private medical records, you name it.  

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry Truman
[ Parent ]
Thanks for the Good News (0.00 / 0)
I like the cliff notes, Keep up the good work
John DiStaso's Republican Status (02/11/10) | 12 comments
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