NH-02: Pignatelli Sends Strong Signal She's Running

Goegraphic pattern? (0.00 / 0)

Or maybe there isn't one:

Jim Cleveland: New London
Judd Gregg: Greenville?
Chuck Douglas: Concord
Dick Swett: Bow
Charlie Bass: Peterborough
Paul Hodes: Concord

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by: elwood @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 05:54:19 AM CDT

What's the association between the Senator (0.00 / 0)

and poor little Greenville--the smallest town in the state and home to just 2,500 souls?

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by: hannah @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 06:38:38 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Gregg was from Greenfield.(n/t) (4.00 / 1)

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 06:59:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

location of the infamous.. (4.00 / 2)

refusal to refund the deposit of the cancer victim.

Democrats solve problems, Republicans sit and say no.

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by: Ray Buckley @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 07:08:20 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Gregg is listed in my Columbia alumni directory... (0.00 / 0)

The most recent edition of my Columbia alumni directory claims Gregg lives in Berlin (NH, not Germany or Connecticut.)  That is probably just one of his office addresses.

He lived in Greenfield, which is in CD-02 when he was a state rep and subsequently moved to Rye (in CD-01.)

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 17:10:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The More, The Merrier (0.00 / 0)

Should be a fun race. . . .

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 06:25:48 AM CDT

Can't blame Pignatelli for mentioning encouragement from Washington. (0.00 / 0)

At this point, it's all about sounding credible.

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by: This Was The Moment @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 07:15:37 AM CDT

Deb Pignatelli was the only (4.00 / 5)

Executive Councilor to really question Ayotte at the confirmation hearing last week. They voted yesterday, and I'm not sure of the vote. But out of the three Dems on there, at least Deb spoke up.

From Fahey (bold mine):

At a hearing last week, she drew mostly rave reviews from law enforcement, and polite questioning from the council. Councilor Deb Pignatelli was most aggressive, asking her about a decision last year to sign onto an amicus "friend of the court" brief involving the California gay-marriage issue.

I look forward to hearing more from Debora and the other candidates. We had a large presidential field in '08 and it brought us the best candidate, and I'm confident we'll have an excellent one for the US House as well.

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 07:24:49 AM CDT

I wouldn't want to annoint anyone but (4.00 / 3)

Deb and Mike Pignatelli are wonderful people and good friends, if she ran she would have a lot of support, when I worked in Keene and Peterborough and around that area Deb was well known.

Your question of the day is tough to answer, not a lot of people know what the Executive Council is, but that being said people still continue to vote for her all the way down the ballot.

She also used to be a State Representative, and a State Senator.

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by: sdoyle @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 08:32:46 AM CDT

I Like Deb Pignatelli (4.00 / 2)

I like Deb Pignatelli -- I worked with her in her very first campaign back so long ago in the early 1990s, last Century, helping with her message and strategy.  This is an up-front, WYSIWYG person who doesn't deserve the word "politician" unless it's meant in a positive way.

I like John DeJoie, Mark Fernald,and Katrina Swett as well, so I'm rather happy I'll have less of a "choice" by living in Portsmouth and the 1st CD!  If Sylvia Larsen runs she's great too, and it will come down to five hopefully very positive candidates who offer their candidates for the nomination to Democrats who will choose their favorite.  

Any of them currently mentioned would become among the best Congresspeople in Washington.  Let's all keep that in mind as the primary campaign evolves.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 09:29:09 AM CDT

Well Said, Jim n/t (4.00 / 2)

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 09:39:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

A Big Pond (4.00 / 1)

I'm going to dip my toe into this icey pond with a few data points from the last cycle.

From what I can gather, it has been a while since there was a contested primary in CD2, so I put Hodes' numbers up as a water mark. Also, the farther you go back, imo, the less relevant a direct comparison is. So,take 'em or leave em'. It's the data available. It's the data I chose.

Vote Totals
CD2
Hodes - Primary - 22,638

Concord - 1,787
Hanover - 432
Keene - 797
Nashua - 2,686
Peterborough - 405

Hodes - General Election - 200,382 (Horn - 138,222)

Concord - 13,850
Hanover - 5,438
Keene - 8,609
Nashua - 21,006
Peterborough - 2,360

EC District 5
Pignatelli - Primary - 8,567

Concord - Not Applicable
Hanover - Not Applicable
Keene - 759
Nashua - 2,787
Peterborough - 386

Pignatelli - General Election - 68,102

Concord - Not Applicable
Hanover - Not Applicable
Keene - 7,870
Nashua - 22,081
Peterborough - 2,212

There certainly aren't alot of votes to split up between multiple candidates in a primary. This leads me to believe that the candidate that can best capitalize on current grassroots networks will rock the GOTV.

www.KusterforCongress.com  

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 10:12:43 AM CDT

Deb Pignatelli was my State Senator (4.00 / 3)

... when I was living in Nashua.  She always stood up for the gay community when we needed her and she would be a great addition to Congress.

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by: brianrater @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 10:47:02 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

31,600 GOP Primary Voters in '08 (0.00 / 0)

had to be split by Bosse, Clegg, Horn, L'Eplattenier, & Steiner. Horn won the nom with 12,726 votes.

www.KusterforCongress.com  

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 20:25:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Reasons Deb would be a great in Congress (4.00 / 3)

Several things come to mind why  would be glad to see her run-

1.  Accessibility- she is quick to return phone calls and emails- which is a frequent complain about so many office holders.

2.  She seems to really strive to do a good job- and does a great job.

3.  She enters a room and focuses on those around her.  You never get the impression she is looking over your shoulder for a more important person to chat up.

4.  Deb regularly makes it over to edge of her district, specifically Keene- something her predecessor never did.

5.  She routinely makes use of technology to update constituents on what she has been working and voting on- more than any other of my elected officials.

6.  She is friendly and approachable.

7.  She works very hard.

7.  

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by: Kathleen O'Donnell @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 13:52:23 PM CDT

Katrina Swett has been lobbying (4.00 / 1)

Katrina Swett has been lobbying against gambling, with some success.  (This doesn't look like the biennium when the slots come to NH.)  I also bumped into her at a hearing for a bill which would allow the police to seize assets of sexual traffickers.  

She has been working with (somewhat oddly) Jim Rubens--- who himself has been keeping a  high profile. Rubens used to be a Republican, but he would probably have a better chance running as a Democrat.

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 18:33:20 PM CDT

Are you kidding? (4.00 / 3)

Rubens?  He worked for Gordon Humphrey when Humphrey ran for governor in 2002.

Here is what the Monitor said about Rubens when he tried to get his old state senate seat back from Cliff Below:

Rubens is driven by ideology, Below by facts. Rubens often impresses others as arrogant, Below as earnest. Rubens rarely questions his own assumptions, while Below always listens and learns.

Rubens's characteristics rendered him a sideshow throughout his four years in the Senate.

Rubens is no friend to Democrats.  The fact that he may - and I stress may - once in a while have opinions with which Democrats agree is a case of the broken clock being right twice a day!

"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 @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 21:05:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Good Point (0.00 / 0)

On Election Night 1994, Rubens' campaign manager threatened my life at the Hanover polling place.  He accused me of ripping down lawn signs in Newbury -- a town which, to this day, I have never visited.

My image of Rubens is of him walking around Hanover with a sandwich board during his campaign against Ralph Hough.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 21:16:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

my most vivid image is... (4.00 / 1)

The time he got into a fistfight with an rival signholder around 6:58pm on Election Day in front of Hanover High School.  I think it was the 1996 Presidential Primary, although I can't remember what or who he was campaigning for that time. (I would have been campaigning for Clinton I, who did a major field operation in February 1996 to stave off challenges from Pat Paulsen and Lyndon LaRouche.) I just remember it was dark and cold outside.

Actually, it wasn't a fistfight so much as a shoving match and the other guy was more to blame than Rubens was.  And he has mellowed quite a bit in recent years.

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 22:06:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Kathy's Right... (4.00 / 1)

...Jim Rubens is true and through a Republican.  I have enjoyed working with him on the "Granny D" project of public funding for campaigns, and he was appointed to the Commission that resulted from legislation I sponsored last year to formalize a plan to create voluntary public financing. He's a smart guy, and well-intended -- he just makes errors every time he Republican-speaks.  Such talent wasted!  Of course, he'd say the same about me for the opposite reason.

Jim is a gentleman, but is a solid conservative, though I think he's uncomfortable with his Republican alliances.  I doubt we'll ever reform him from his unfortunate beliefs and party leanings, but one can hope.  

That said, he sure would have made a better Governor than Craig.... what's his name.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 21:49:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Craig. . . . what's his name (0.00 / 0)

That said, he sure would have made a better Governor than Craig.... what's his name.

That statement also applies to what I just flushed down the toilet.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 23:51:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes, John Lynch Would Have Beat... (0.00 / 0)

...either of them in 2004.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Fri Apr 03, 2009 at 00:23:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Today's Sentinel has a LtE (4.00 / 2)

Saying President Obama deserves credit - for following the lead of Executive Councilor Pignatelli.

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by: elwood @ Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 19:50:37 PM CDT