Elite Punditosophistry Not Particularly Appealing to Reality

by: Dean Barker

Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 01:00:00 AM EDT

"Democrats in the state, by and large, are upper-income, high-education, liberal. What you'd think of as elite Democrats, not blue-collar folks," said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center.

...Smith said one of Shea-Porter's biggest "problems" as she seeks a second term is essentially that "she's just a Democrat in what's still a largely Republican district."

"She is not particularly appealing to blue-collar Democrats, " Smith said.

But Ray Buckley, state Democratic Party chair, contends that Shea-Porter's House votes have been in the "mainstream of New Hampshire values."

It totally makes sense why she's unappealing to blue-collar folks.  After all, Carol Shea-Porter was raised in an elite military family, went to elite public schools - such as Andy Smith's elite UNH - and, prior to becoming a Congresswoman, paid the bills by staying far away from regular folks through her job as an elite social worker.

And just take a look at some of Shea-Porter's work in Congress in the past month.  The woman is totally out of touch with the working class:

Congresswoman Shea-Porter Secures Critical Funding for Shipyard
Friday August 01, 2008
Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, helped pass legislation which will provide vital resources to our nation's veterans, as well as secured important funding for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Shea-Porter Continues to Stand Up for Military Families, Introduces Critical Veterans Bill
Friday August 01, 2008
On the day before the start of the Annual District Work Period, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter used her time in Washington to stand up for our nation's military families and veterans.

Shea-Porter Scores Legislative Victory for New Hampshire Students
Thursday July 31, 2008
Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter voted in favor of legislation which will address the mounting cost of education and help remove barriers that prevent qualified students from attending college.

Shea-Porter Supports Bill to Restrain Energy Speculation
Wednesday July 30, 2008
Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter voted in favor of the Commodity Market Transparency and Accountability Act (H.R. 6604), a bill which would reduce gas prices by preventing excessive speculation and energy market manipulation.

Congresswoman Shea-Porter To Introduce Legislation Requiring New Hampshire Has Full Service VA Hospital
Monday July 28, 2008
Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter continued to demonstrate her unwavering support for veterans by announcing she will introduce legislation requiring the Veterans Administration to provide New Hampshire veterans with the same services veterans in other states receive at their full service hospitals.

Shea-Porter Announces HHS Grant to Ensure Access to Health Care Coverage
Thursday July 24, 2008
Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter announced today that New Hampshire has been awarded a nearly $900,000 federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Congresswoman Shea-Porter Introduces Home Heating Assistance Bill
Thursday July 17, 2008
Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter introduced legislation to provide emergency funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The legislation, the Home Energy Assistance through Emergency Relief Act, would increase funding for LIHEAP by $9 billion.

p.s. Some more fun: which Hamster can come up with the most succinct datum to counter the broad-brush nonsense of calling NH-01 "still a largely Republican district"?