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James Pindell

When Gatekeepers Attack New Media (Using New Media)

by: Dean Barker

Thu Dec 09, 2010 at 05:57:17 AM EST

I really and truly do not care who the self-appointed vermin cleaner wants to be his successor for NHGOP Chair (after all, he got outsmarted by Judd Gregg on the anointed senate pick, so I'm not exactly convinced of his puppetmaster superpowers).  But this media story within the story is LOLs-worthy.

Yesterday, WMUR Political Director James Pindell broke the news on Pater Sununu's successor:

Striking a deal that he believes will allow him to hand-pick his successor,  and at the same time retain power without responsibilities, state Republican Chairman John H. Sununu will endorse Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron to be his replacement, sources with direct knowledge of the situation tells WMURPoliticalScoop.com
John DiStaso, whose Granite Status is the established vehicle for GOP news, writes today:
NO DEALS. Some Republicans told the Status that Sununu favors Bergeron for the post. One blog report contended he cut some type of deal with her to keep power after stepping down.

"Why would I have to cut a deal with somebody?" Sununu said. "I could be chairman again. I don't understand that. That's neither here nor there. That's really kind of stupid."

Again, I don't know or care about the story. But note the language. Granite Status uses what elements of New Media it can to stay relevant - free online access (they tried a paywall, and quickly reversed course), non-print updates, etc...  It kind of looks like a blog! But when it gets scooped, it calls the original reporting of the political director of the state's largest TeeVee station, without attribution, "a blog post."

LOL!

Discuss :: (1 Comments)

Not in Granite Status

by: Dean Barker

Wed Dec 08, 2010 at 20:38:15 PM EST

In Granite Status, 12/2:
Shea-Porter, during her unsuccessful campaign against Republican Rep.-elect Frank Guinta, pressed Guinta on the source of he source of $245,000 in loans and $110,000 in contributions Guinta made to his campaign. Guinta said the money came from savings he and his wife had built up over 20 years. The Democratic Party lodged complaints on the issue with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and Federal Election Commission.
Not in Granite Status, 9/30:
This is the second time the FEC has been formally notified of the issue. In August Republican activist Chris Wolfe requested an investigation, and he tells "Scoop" that he is updating his complaint with new information in days.
Discuss :: (0 Comments)

Shorter Uncut Guinta-Pindell Interview

by: Dean Barker

Wed Oct 13, 2010 at 21:31:22 PM EDT

Shorter uncut Guinta-Pindell interview:
* I didn't answer Jon Greenberg's simple, direct question because I had to go potty.

* The disclosure forms have something like 100, 120, 150, 1,000,000,000 pages of rules and requirements!

* Democrats are mean.

* I won the primary, so stop bringing up all the questions Fergus, Bradley, Bestani, Mahoney and Ashooh were asking about the mystery money. I won, they lost, case closed.

* I won't show a bank statement and end this today because I'm standing "on principle". Because I want to talk about issues, although not showing a bank statement prevents me from talking about the issues.  Democrats are mean, also.

But watch the whole thing, below the fold.  And kudos to Pindell for not letting up, especially about why has hasn't put the issue to bed with a simple bank statement.

UPDATE: Please also read Kathy's take on it.

There's More... :: (3 Comments, 28 words in story)

House Special Election and SD-16 Primary Open Thread

by: Dean Barker

Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 21:20:20 PM EST

Boutin, then?  Tea People 1, Gatsas 0.

(Embed courtesy James Pindell.)
Discuss :: (5 Comments)

The Ray Buckley Comment By GraniteGrok.com: Absolutely Shameful

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Sat Nov 14, 2009 at 13:37:49 PM EST

Absolutely shameful.

As James Pindell has reported in NHPoliticalReport.com, the co-founder/co-host of GraniteGrok.com, who will go nameless at least by me, called Ray Buckley a "faggot" at the wrap-up of their two-hour radio talk show.  Apparently the radio part of the show was finished at that point, but they keep their Internet LiveCam camera connection up for a few minutes to catch their background chatter.  

Readers can see first-hand more of the banter by checking the GraniteGrok.com WEBSITE.  NHPoliticalReport.com has a direct link within their story.  You'll want to curser through the first two hours and ten minutes of the radio show unless you want to listen to diatribe from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne and State Senator Jeb Bradley.  The show, by the way, airs on Newstalk 1490 WEMJ in Gilford -- a call sign you might want to set your radio dial to avoid.

I know a little bit about the show, and the two co-hosts.  I was invited to join Republican State Representative Bill O'Brien on the show last January to discuss a bill he and I had teamed up on as co-sponsors, a right-to-know law expansion, which in amended form is coming out with a favorable recommendation from the House Judiciary Committee for action this coming January.   Both radio co-hosts were pleasant to talk with, and they put up with some of my more liberal jargon and I put up with their rather conservative talk-play.  

There's More... :: (24 Comments, 482 words in story)

Pindell Lives !

by: JonnyBBad

Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 16:56:56 PM EDT

I had lunch with James today after calling him to find out just what he's been up to since the demise of PolitickerNH, his last site. We all knew there were issues there, but straight up James asked some of the thorniest and difficult questions of the last cycle, with a calm, in your face, approach. We need his unfettered opinions. As the first NH specific web news and analysis site, his previous work defines the scope of the mashup. His top 100 lists were a special treat. Fear no more, he is as addicted to NH's goings on as the rest of us. He's developing a new site and will be launching in the next few months. Good news! Someone will make the effort to have a political news site, not a Democratic or Republican site, and it will augment our blogisphere. I am looking forward to having Pindell back.
Discuss :: (9 Comments)

Buzz and Reverb

by: Dean Barker

Mon Dec 15, 2008 at 22:57:20 PM EST

A very trustworthy source expressed doubts about some of the claims in the 'Ticker piece about Carol on Thursday, so I decided to not to touch on it here.

Then the ice storm hit, and I lost power for a few days.  In the interim, Pindell's piece created a fairly significant buzz over at SSP and dKos.  By the time I got back on, it was too late to leave a substantive remark in a decent time frame.  So while I'm late to the party, I hope you'll indulge me. And forgive me too, because I'm about to lay a pox on both houses of conventional wisdom, tradmed and netroots.  And I say that as someone who has a daily addiction to the outstanding work at the 'Ticker and SSP and dKos.

First, let's set a ground rule.  If I say something encouraging about Carol Shea-Porter's ability to win a senate race, that doesn't mean I don't want Paul Hodes as my next senator, or vice versa.  So let me make something perfectly clear before going forward: I'd be absolutely thrilled to have either Carol or Paul be our senate nominee.  Either one of them would be a strong progressive voice for a legislative body that badly needs progressive voices, and both of them, I believe emphatically, have what it takes to win the race.

There's More... :: (11 Comments, 1124 words in story)

Pindell Predictions & (P)raising Arizona

by: Dean Barker

Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 21:51:11 PM EDT

Two items, not really related, but they go well together.

1) James Pindell has come out with his election projections.  Considering his history with covering Granite State politics, James' take on our own races is welcome news:

Democrats will keep both New Hampshire congressional seats as part of a national trend that will net them at least seven U.S. Senate seats and 16 House seats nationwide, according to James Pindell, the editor of Politicker.com's Pindell Report, which provides independent analysis of federal and state races.

One of those Democratic U.S. Senate pick-ups is in New Hampshire where Democrat Jeanne Shaheen is poised to defeat Republican incumbent John E. Sununu. Pindell also expects Barack Obama will carry New Hampshire and win its four electoral votes.

2) Last Summer I appeared on Political Chowder and went up against Fergus.  Feeling provocative, and based on something I had read at the time, I kind of threw out there, in a question about a McCain visit to New Hampshire, the suggestion that the Mavwreck ought to be worrying about his home state of Arizona rather than little old swing states like us.  Well, looky here:

An Arizona State University pollster said Wednesday it is conceivable Barack Obama could win Arizona, John McCain's home state.

"It is a tightening race," said Dr. Bruce Merrill, professor emeritus at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism. "There is a possibility of the (Democrats) pulling it out."

And here:
Myers Research (D) & Grove Insight (D). 10/23-24. Likely voters. MoE 4%

Likely voters
McCain (R) 44
Obama (D) 40

Early voters (34% of the sample)
McCain (R) 46
Obama (D) 47

If McCain hadn't waged such a dishonorable campaign, I'd actually feel bad about him losing his home state.  But now I'm crossing my fingers, especially for what it might mean for some down-ticket races there.
Discuss :: (0 Comments)

Take January 15th Off Your Calendar

by: Dean Barker

Wed Nov 21, 2007 at 00:17:38 AM EST

Another Pindell scoop:
Conventional wisdom still has it that Gardner will decide to hold the primary on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Gardner said in an interview that no matter what Michigan does he will not hold the presidential primary on Jan .15 because four days later South Carolina Republicans will hold their primary.
New Hampshire law says no "similar contest" can take place seven days before or after the presidential primary. South Carolina, he said, would be a similar contest.
As for when he will make a decision, Gardner said to look early next week.

If we've got a week or less from Iowa, then whoever comes out of there with the Big Mo is going to warp polls here fast.  The closer we get to Iowa, the harder it will be not to be influenced by what happens there, imho.
Discuss :: (8 Comments)

Saturday Grab Bag

by: Dean Barker

Sat Sep 29, 2007 at 19:32:08 PM EDT

* I finally found a good reason to watch FOX.  The Globe's own James Pindell, columnist of the indispensable Primary Source, will be hitting the Sunday morning political talk show national airwaves with an appearance on FOX News with Chris Wallace.  In addition to knowing the many dimensions of our state politics, and how it connects to the presidential primary, Pindell was once a managing editor for (the now defunct) PoliticsNH.com not too long ago.  It'll be nice to see someone on the national TeeVee who both gets our state and understands New Media, so show him some love and tune in.

* One of the most useful aspects of blogs, imho, is that they absolutely destroy SSS, or Silly Season Syndrome, the dread disease of a chronically out-of-touch public servant who suddenly discovers a fourth quarter conversion to votes that actually reflect the will of the people.  I saw it first hand last time around when Charlie BassMaster did everything he could to mask his rubber stamp Bush enabling in the face of an impending defeat.  Every time he did that, Mike, Laura, and I would contrast it with the record he amassed when voters weren't paying attention.

Which is why I'm wondering if SCHIP really should stand for Sununu's Campaign Health Insurance Prop.  Of his vote to expand health coverage, John E. says that "Congress needs to continue work to make health insurance more accessible"  Yet less than a year ago, we were treated to this more accurate reflection of his radical free market ideology:

"This may be the most bizarre recommendation, but I am sincere," Sununu said. "I'm not saying it's not an issue or it's not important, but proportionally speaking, stop complaining about health care."

Sununu said business leaders would be better off putting their energy elsewhere. For starters, "if there was something that we could do about it that were quick or easy, it would be done," he said, predicting only marginal policy changes. "There is no solution" anytime soon, he said.

...If there's a glimmer of hope, it will come from open markets, said Sununu, who broke with the White House in 2003 to vote against the Medicare prescription drug bill because it restricted price competition.

Health care "is so darn expensive," he said, "because it's worth it."

If that doesn't convince you, here's a whole laundry list of votes John E.'s collected over the years against expanding access to health care.

* Apparently, the big bad National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is meeting with "potential candidates" to run against Paul Hodes, who, somewhat unbelievably, still has no challenger.  I find this hysterical, since the NRCC's chair, Tom Cole, has recently threatened to resign from the organization, which is now millions of dollars in debt.  Can you pay for brochures and TV ads with IOUs?  It'll be interesting to see how a party whose ideology has become rotten will deal with the fact that they won't have as much money to conceal that fact this cycle.

* Too funny - the Union Leader tries and fails to make the case that Carol Shea-Porter has held only one town hall meeting thus far, decrying that she's too busy with "San Francisco liberal Pelosi,", and noting how she liked to go to Bradley's town hall meetings to "mingle with other liberal activists."  Only one problem. Rep, Shea-Porter has held three public meetings prior to the most recent one, in addition to working a much longer week than Jeb's lazy Republican-controlled House did.  Well, at least they corrected it.

Moreover, here is the loony left-wing extremist herself at a recent trip to the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton.  Just listen to the madwoman's socialist ramblings!

When asked about an amendment to end flag burning, Shea-Porter said if more schools taught students how to respect the flag and what it means, then people would be less inclined to burn it.

"Why aren't we teaching civics anymore?" she said. "If we teach them to love it, they'll want to protect it."

It's a sad day for America with such radicals in power.
There's More... :: (3 Comments, 59 words in story)

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