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Only in New Hampshire
A woman who was thrown out of events for protesting President Bush. A woman who raised practically no money. A woman who got by with a little help from her friends - first unseating the party's anointed candidate and then a sitting congressman. A woman who continues to be a "real person" - her state convention speech was a declaration of conscience which politely challenged our sitting President - a reminder of why she has captured our independent Granite State hearts and minds. Carol came to my work a few years ago on a personal call to a colleague. On Friday afternoons, my workplace has a low-key social with beer, soda, chips. Carol Shea-Porter dropped-in after her appointment to say 'hi' to folks and my bosses started peppering her with questions. One of my mentors challenged her - strongly - on the wars. Carol stood on her feet and engaged us all for two straight hours. Poor Gene (her husband) came in and nursed a Diet Coke with an amused smile on his face. This wasn't even her district! On a Friday afternoon after a week in Washington - shouldn't staffers have been shooing her along, away from these darn inquisitive people? Only in New Hampshire. My heart was broken and Mr. Smith rolled over in his grave when Carol chose not to run for the U.S. Senate.
So it was with a similar thrill of the nobody getting to talk with a somebody that I got into the car with a friend and drove out to have dinner with Mark Connolly - a guy with no money, no organization, and no decades of Macbeth-style machinations on higher office (a breath of fresh air). Only in New Hampshire would an outsider candidate who is thinking of running invite a few people over just to talk. I am not a kingmaker and do not know Mark well; our friendship is about a year old. I'm learning about him the same time everyone else is. This diary is a true diary in the sense of a first person catalog of impressions of last evening - they are personal and emotional responses to the humanity of Mark Connolly - the kind of entry you'd make in a cloth bound diary to pass the time on cold New Hampshire nights before TV and Wii. These are my thoughts and anyone who knows me knows this is how I write (don't make fun of me too much). I am a little short on varnish and long on poetry. But what is it they say, writing is an axe for the frozen sea within us?
Shades of Bobby Kennedy
When I went off to college Ray Buckley and Donna Soucy gave me a book of quotes by Bobby Kennedy, a book I treasure. This small book has a vellum dust jacket and a pale blue picture of a pensive Bobby beneath, sad-eyed but determined. Mark reminds me of that picture and of the man, or what I have come to know about him and that Last Campaign, since I am too young to remember. When I say this an hour into our time together Mark laughs in his modest way - then dazzles us with the fact his mother once ran around with Bobby in his handsome Navy whites, perhaps about the time he would have done his training in my college town of Lewiston. Mark notes with all the due self-deprecation which should follow any such name drop that it never went anywhere because his grandfather threw Bobby out of the house because he thought Joe was a Wall Street crook.
Mark speaks with that Final Campaign earnestness that marked the speeches and interviews of Bobby in the weeks before he was killed- Mark speaks of taking on Wall Street - actually taking them on with enforcement actions that go at the pocketbook - getting at the money - the only language Wall Street speaks; the tragedy and helplessness of the BP spill; the wash of money in Washington; the need for a strong candidate who speaks his mind. His knowledge of financial services excesses - the black heart and soul of our economic crisis - is astounding. He actually seems to have a skill set the U.S. congress could use just about now. Who better to fight the regulation fight then the White Knight from New Hampshire? He is thinking about this race because he must. It is an act of conscience on his part and of courage.
Courage
The courage I think I admire in Mark is not the "whisteblower" talk or calling Hildreth to the mat; things that make me cringe for our small state where one often knows and likes the respective mortal combatants (I think it is sad the Council chamber has turned into a gladiators' den). The Courage I admire is that Mark is the only one who is looking the FRM families in the eyes - the people who lost a life of hope - he calls them, he e-mails them, he laughs with them, he cries with them. Who else in this mess is acknowledging the wrong, proposing solutions, and looking against all odds for a little justice for these folks? When everyone else sees this as political Chernobyl, something to quarantine, people who can't be met with or talked to, he sees the humanity of the loss, and the righteous anger. In the days after his resignation he has grown closer to the people he acknowledges were failed by their government - a government he was a part of - and he is sticking with them. I would like to know what the families think of Mark's thoughts about running. I truly don't know what they'd have to say, but I think they are the ones who have to say it- they lived this hell. (Paging Josh Rogers.) And I won't forget what happened come November and I don't think even our 24 hours news cycle ADD will let this one fade into the fog.
An Early Act of Courage
FRM doesn't seem to be the first time Mark stood against the odds and risked his political and personal neck. Mark was a college student when he served as a Republican state representative from Bedford. Towards the end of his term the barely twenty-something Mark (somewhat gawky if his youthful photos are too be believed) decided enough was enough - enough of oil refineries off of New Hampshire's coast, governance by paranoia, using the state flag staff as your personal semaphore- Mel Thomson had to go. He went to Hugh Gallen and pledged his support. But what could this kid from Bedford (Bedford!) and the wrong party do for him? Mark promised to write a letter to the editor, and to get all the other young Republicans in the State House to sign. In the end, he was the only one who signed. And paid the price - his political career was effectively over but his voice was a small part of the chorus that showed Mel the door.
The Shadow Attorney General - Or - the Shy White Knight
Tyco, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, MFS Mutual Funds, American Express, Ameriprise, ING, UBS-fines to state and restitution totals: Mark estimates somewhere around $55 million.
Large recoveries against the big banks and investment firms that have gone astray - this from the securities chief of New Hampshire - or Cow Hampshire as the people in one-time Attorney General Spitzer's office would call it when Mark would take yet another unprecedented and high profile enforcement action against one of their wall street wolves. Who is this country bumpkin playing in our sandbox, his watchdog counterparts on that skinny island in the Hudson would crow.
UBS, the most recent, resulted in $20 million in restitution to the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corp. ING settled $3.8 million it had bilked state employees in a deferred compensation plan (Mark excluded himself from the settlement as a state employee - I assume too avoid the appeareance of impropriety ).
Ameriprise-investors got their money back and the State got collectively over $10 million in fines. Pennichuck-one of the first-if not the first time-Sarbaness-Okley imposed a sanction against a CEO not to serve on any further public boards and one of the first-if not the first time-a special dividend of a fine was paid out to shareholders for malfeasance by a senior officer of the corp. Tyco, $5 million in 2002, was then the second largest fine imposed by a state securities regulator to that point in history.
I had to get it out of my friend that Mark received the National Enforcement Award of the Year from his fellow state regulators in 2007-a big deal for a small state.
If Connolly is opportunistic as some would argue - why haven't we heard about these battles? It is not his style. He kept a low profile in the politically neutral Secretary of State's office where the Securities Bureau is housed. He did his job, answering to Bill Gardner, working quietly and well.
An aside which I researched this morning and Connolly did not broach because he is being positive in this exploration: a doubt I have about Hodes' viability. I understand Hodes is on Financial Services. I also know he is good on issues. But I also understand he took a significant amount from Goldman Sachs this spring, and lots from the industry as whole, according to Open Secrets. If I am reading this data wrong, if it is a lie, or if he has returned these funds or explained his relationship to the industry he regulates while retaining the money, I will stand chastened and corrected.
The Urgency of Now
Why now? 1000 deaths in Afghanistan. 1000 deaths - half a million individual summers our beloved soldiers will never see. More than 40 days of a black flood of biblical proportion. Goldman Sacks betting against the economy. A public that is voting out legends and "establishment" candidates like a fast-forwarded episode of Survivor: Specter, Bennett of Utah, Grayson. Crist, Lincoln, Boxer, Reid, Bennett of Colorado are also in the cross-hairs. A week to filing- the end of the world? No. A week is an eternity in modern politics - James Pindell noted last week: "So let's look at the nationwide context: This past week a top-tier Republican entered the Senate race in Washington State and now that race is tied. A new candidate emerged two weeks ago in Wisconsin and that race is also suddenly within the margin of error." No one can predict the moment and what men and women the moment will make (c.f., Carol Shea Porter). Is it too late? Perhaps. But never too late for the guts to have the conversation (c.f., Dean Barker).
The Mantle
Governor Kaine used the image of a mantle at the state convention as a means to describe a person, what they place there is what matters. Does it work? Mark's mantle is anchored by a portrait of his mother Nancy and a portrait of his brother Bill. Nancy is striking and something out of a beautiful novel. His brother's portrait is made handsome by the sepia tone of grief. When Mark speaks against Afghanistan he speaks in part about the toll on our vets, including his brother who started his service late in the Vietnam era and was decorated after the First Gulf War. Bill ended his own life. The trauma of war and its toll on his brother's mental health weighs greatly on Mark. He is not ashamed to oppose the war in Afghanistan outright.
His father who is 88, looks old even then, in a picture from the early 90s- he looks like Gallen would have looked if he had lived longer- tall, white haired, proud. Mark jokes that his dad - like many of our fathers - a rock rib Republican - has been calling him and saying "You are making Kelly Ayotte look bad!" We all laughed.
There is a picture - in the center - of a close friend who recently lost his battle with cancer. There is Terri and Mark - an old photo from some time ago - but in the flesh they still have that the spark and life of lovebirds in their 30s.
There's even a picture of Harry, Mark's ancient cat - adopted after being thrown out a window in a bag when Bill Clinton was still president. Like everyone else in this house, this 19 year old cat seems to have drunk from a fountain of youth. He likes to sleep in the sink and mews for the water faucet to be turned on first thing in the morning.
Terri's sons are there too - mophead and military - the young democrat with his thick locks and flannel shirt with his arm around the strict Republican, his shoulders framed by his deep blue dress uniform. Mark's family, like many of ours, takes all kinds. I for one like someone who is courageous enough to find the common ground - I am proud of the party platform I helped write which appeals to our neighbors and friends - Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents. I see former-Republican as an asset, and not a toxic one. We can't win with just Ds in our corner.
Negligently perched - still in its box - is a little pewter cup. The kind of cheap souvenir you get at a national monument. This one is from Monticello. It's engraved with a crest and a simple standard: To Love and Serve.
Books and Art
I think a library is a window into a mind. Some books on the shelf: Dayton Duncan's Grassroots, Sandburg's 4 volumes on Lincoln, Lives of the Poets, biographies of Jackson, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, FDR, JFK, TR, even Reagan. Lots of Hemingway, Fitzgerald. Robber Barons and Titan (appropriate for a Wall Street watchdog). Lots of books on art. Mark paints. His images are hopeful. He depicts the undepictable - the true eternals - sea and sky.
Who He Admires
Gallen and John Winant are his favorite governors. Walter Peterson is up there for his courage and his honor - Peterson the Republican who called for an income tax in his last race. He's also thrilled with Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Judy Reardon who listened intently to his thoughts on financial services reform recently. By contrast, Hodes asked him in to talk reform a few years ago and then lectured him - in fairness, I do not know Hodes' side of this story. I know Connolly left baffled and saddened. My friend brings up July 4th last year when we discuss Jeanne. He walked by the Shaheen's house in York and saw the Senator on the deck with a foot of documents in front of her and a pencil. Billy was on the beach playing bocce. We had a good laugh - Connolly has that kind of nose to the grindstone, quiet and unyielding dedication to duty. I admit I daydream about the quiet and workhorse powerhouse New Hampshire could have down there with Shaheen and Connolly. People who know your name the next time you see them, people who are going to give up their holidays and their private life to work for us.
The Back Porch Campaign
I am struck by his modesty and his rough edges - by the end of the night Mark had gotten BBQ dust on his khakis and soapsuds on his shirt from the dishes - khakis which Terri had recently got him and which were looking pretty sad. He thanked us for coming to visit and promised to sit on his porch this week and call everyone from Dudley Dudley to Chuck Douglas to John Durkin. On this site he has invited you to call him or e-mail him. I am impressed that he genuinely wants to hear advice. When Paul Hodes calls, it is like what can you do for me? When Mark calls, it's what do you think? He is truly exploring this, knows the risks of mud being dug up on him (how can a Wall Street watchdog who has - perhaps injudiciously - said there is a cover up in Concord - not have determined enemies). He knows the risks of devastating party ostracism which has already begun in private conversations, but he wants to talk to us about what matters - despite these risks. Only in New Hampshire.
Speaking clinically, if nothing else maybe Mark's discussion with us about running will sharpen Hodes' message - maybe the scales will fall from Paul's eyes on the road to Washington - arguably, he could use a Damascus moment to get traction. Not to be overly literary with references to scripture (my English teachers are cringing), but no matter what happens this week (and it could get ugly), I hope somewhere in the great library of our time together there will be a modest book of Mark when the history of this state is written. If Mark doesn't run, I hope he will still stay in touch. We might need him.
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