There IS A NH Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Race!

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Fri Sep 10, 2010 at 08:47:42 AM EDT

I helped Paul McEachern in his 2004 challenge to John Lynch.  I had known Lynch since the mid-1970s, but had known McEachern since the mid-1960s.  I had previously supported Chris Spirou over McEachern before backing McEachern in other races.  In other words, they were all good people, and any would have been great governors.  

About Paul Hodes And Offshore Oil Drilling And Carol Shea-Porter And Seniors

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Tue Jul 27, 2010 at 10:31:12 AM EDT

TO THE PORTSMOUTH HERALD ABOUT PAUL HODES:

"In a recent letter to The Portsmouth Herald, a writer from Greenland criticized the position taken by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Paul Hodes in opposing New England offshore oil drilling.  I'd like to offer a different point of view in favor of Hodes position, on which he is joined by Congressperson Carol Shea-Porter and Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

"It wasn't too long ago that a rich man wanted to build an oil refinery in New Hampshire's Seacoast.  I remember it well, because I was in the Legislature at the time and saw the immense and intense efforts to make his plan a reality.

"Aristotle Onassis had a vast oil shipping fleet, and he wanted more sales in the United States market.  He came up with a grand idea that potentially would include a tanker terminal at the Isles of Shoals, and a refinery at Durham Point.  Pipelines would flow the oil to and from his refinery to nearby truck depots, and roads would be widened for his vast fleets that would then deliver his product north and south, east and west.  

"Then-Governor Meldrim Thomson strongly supported the idea.  He thought it was just great.  So did many others, and I'm not being partisan in saying this because it's true -- so did many Republicans.  The opposition primarily came from Democrats.  Sometimes, there really is a partisan divide on business and environmental approaches.  

George McGovern: A Man Who Saved Lives And Changed A Nation's History

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Sun Jul 19, 2009 at 11:06:14 AM EDT

All those go back in my memory to the 1960s or early 1970s.  Each in their own way had a major positive impact on what New Hampshire or America is today.  I've talked or written about each of them, and others, through the years.  

George McGovern is turning 88 years old this weekend, and he's going to be in New Hampshire -- not really to "celebrate" his birthday as much as to continue his cause of being a great leader.  Unfortunately, since I work my Summer job at the time of his Portsmouth public event on Monday when he is signing his new book I won't be able to see him, but nevertheless I'll benefit -- we all will -- from the visit from this very good man, since he will touch yet more people and get them to think -- about peace, about war, about our choices.

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a true "watershed" and "crossroads" for this nation.  While those words are overused and connote different meanings, they apply to that era when America could well have become a much different country than it is now.  Rebellion was in the air, and for good reason.  Many in our country wanted to expand the Vietnam conflict into China.  Marches and demonstrations in Washington threatened our government.  The military was used on our college campuses against our own kids.  Race was a divider in more than just areas of discrimination.  It was a scary time.

Senator George McGovern saw the problems, especially in Vietnam, and after the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 he began his own march for the 1972 Democratic Presidential nomination.  The New Hampshire First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary brought him here, and as a UNH student and Portsmouth political activist of sorts, that's when I first met him.  I was impressed -- not so much at first with him as with his message.  He wanted to stop a war.  I had already lost a couple of friends from UNH in that war, so he had me right from the beginning.  

My experience during that primary when I supported him and made my first financial contributions to a Presidential candidate solidified my interest in keeping our First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary status.

That election year here in New Hampshire was quite divisive result, and many of the activists who were involved in both Democratic and Republican party politics during both the 1968 and 1972 primaries in New Hampshire had second thoughts about wanting to keep our lead-off status.