Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch, finch, beech
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
Tomorrow's Progressives
Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Krauss
Landrigan
Lawson
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Primary Wire
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Welch
Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
Ann McLane Kuster
John Lynch
Jennifer Daler
ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC
National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
The Big D scoops everyone else for the latest on the candidate roundup:
Jennifer Horn, a Republican and former radio talk-show host who challenged Hodes in 2008, has said she is strongly considering a bid for the Senate in 2010. Grant Bosse, whom Horn defeated to secure the Republican nomination last year, is also reported to be considering a bid.
Bass, Horn and Bosse are also reportedly considering campaigns for Hodes's House seat.
"You're in a spot right now where a lot of people are thinking of running, but no one is sure what they're running for yet," Ryan Williams, the communication director for the New Hampshire Republican Party, said.
That's one way of putting it in that last graf. Another is: "My boss is the chair of the NHGOP, and the father of the guy who, he claims, will wait until 'sometime around the summer' to make a decision. But no conflict of interest there or anything."
Also of interest in the Dartmouth piece: Jay Buckey has ruled out a senate run, and twenty-something state rep Scott Merrick is mentioned as a possible contender for the CD2 seat.
Now former Senate candidate Jay Buckey brings up an interesting question in DiStaso's column:
He said the state Democratic Party "definitely stayed neutral" in his short-lived primary race with Shaheen. "That was a commitment they had made and they abided by it."
But the national Democratic Party, through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, virtually ignored Buckey in its press releases, emails and on its Web site, citing Shaheen as the Democratic candidate.
Buckey said that was not a factor in his decision to withdraw from the race, but "it's a major issue. It's something we all should be thinking about because the way they structure it, it's hard for new people to get in the race. The primary system is designed to allow new people to come forward. If we're getting ahead of ourselves by trying to pick the winner ahead of time, it's not really part of the democratic process.
"It's not what caused me to get out the race, but it's a concern," he said.
Chuck Schumer and the DSCC have every right to recruit and promote the candidates they think have the best chance of winning. And they've made no secret about being excited over Shaheen while staying technically neutral (though with Jim Webb in 2006, they openly expressed support pre-primary). Part of me thinks that's great.
But another part of me wonders what effect this has on lesser known candidates, particularly since it takes the biggest challenge they have - name recognition and media attention - and makes it even bigger. And while I didn't see a strong contrast between Buckey and Shaheen on the issues in this case, what effect does the DSCC's muscle have on a case where the "little guy/gal" is the one with the more progressive policy platform?
Of course looming behind this discussion in New Hampshire is the now infamous DCCC push for a great candidate who ultimately was defeated by a lesser known grassroots phenomenon - who then went on to be our Congresswoman. Yet another factor is our September primary, making it hard for the formidable heft of the DSCC to be as helpful as it can be.
I really don't have an agenda here - I just find this an interesting dilemma. Tell me what you think in the comments.
Today I'm announcing with regret my withdrawal from the campaign to represent New Hampshire in the US Senate. I remain committed to the goals of our campaign, but I do not have the financial resources needed to campaign full-time for the next nine months, which is what would be required to beat John Sununu.
I would like to thank all the people who have volunteered their time, money, and energy to support the campaign. I'm proud that our campaign has brought the need for an Apollo Program for Energy to the forefront of the Senate debate here in New Hampshire, and I'm going to continue to work for the issues that have been the foundation of our campaign, including:
* Promoting the awareness that America?s energy policy is crucial to our national security and economy as well as to our environment.
* Keeping our nation a leader in the global economy by investing in education, supporting science and technology research and development, and providing affordable, portable health care for all Americans.
* Eliminating the excessive power of special interests in our political process.
I would also like to thank my tremendous staff - they are not only some of the smartest people I have ever worked with, but they have given tirelessly of themselves to promote the campaign and the issues we believe are critical for America's future.
My best wishes to former Governor Jeanne Shaheen in her campaign. If we work together here in New Hampshire, we can elect a Democrat to the Senate in November and help bring change to America.
Thank you, Dr. Buckey, for bringing attention to the great need to replace our current senator, and for making energy independence a priority of your campaign.
Jay Buckey's been on a diner tour, and has attracted the usual suspects from the state press (at one stop, the former astronaut called for a "campaign code of conduct").
Kristen Senz in the UL describes a possible candidate shorthand based on the prez race:
If voters are looking for ways to differentiate between Shaheen and Buckey, they might look to the current race for the Democratic presidential nomination for parallels. Buckey, who didn't formally endorse a candidate, said he voted for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and cited the senator's ability to get young people engaged in politics.
Shaheen didn't publicly support any candidate, but her husband, Bill, worked for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign. Buckey said he sees the Senate race between himself and Shaheen shaping up as yet another choice between experience and "dreams" of a better future.
"I can provide a fresh approach," he said. "I don't have a lot of ties to the past that I have to worry about."
I wonder how the analogy will feel once we have a nominee one way or the other? Regardless of the comparison, which I find a little too facile, it does bring up an important topic: what will Obama or Clinton bring to the down-ticket races in NH?
US Senator Russ Feingold--one of my favorite members of Congress, personally--has a PAC called the Progressive Patriots Fund, which supports staunch progressives across the country in competitive races. They have put out a call for nominations of candidates to receive their support in the 2008 election, and of course, I hope you'll go to http://progressivepatriotsfund... , fill out the short form, and ask Senator Feingold to support Paul Hodes, Carol Shea-Porter (who won 2 years ago despite a tenfold funding disadvantage), and whichever Senate candidate you support (I put in for Shaheen). This isn't just another dirty money source; I can't speak for anybody but myself, but if there's one person in national politics I trust to do the responsible thing when it comes to issues of campaign finance, it's Russ Feingold.
Once again, that link is:
http://progressivepatriotsfund...
Oh, and for all you Dodd diehards, Feingold was one of the earliest opponents of telecom amnesty, and when the Dodd effort to call Judiciary Cmte. members to urge them to oppose telecom amnesty first went up, Feingold was one of four members listed as already being on our side. He was also the ONLY Senator to vote against the original PATRIOT Act, a bold move which, in my opinion, deserves a "Profile in Courage" award as much as anything I can think of any one Senator doing in my lifetime (he actually earned one in 1999, along with McCain, for introducing their namesake legislation).
I can't believe this escaped my notice - my apologies for the belated post. I knew that Sununu had originally supported a tax credit for wood-pellet stove, and I also knew that the energy bill failed the cloture threshold by one vote, thanks to Sununu's and Gregg's nay votes.
But what I didn't realize was that a pellet stove tax credit amendment was specifically included in the bill to attract our Granite State senators (NH is a big source of wood pellets, and ranks high in pellet stoves users), yet the phony environmentalists ultimately showed no interest in biting:
Even tax credits for wood-burning stoves couldn't make New Hampshire's senators warm up to a $22 billion energy tax package.
The last-minute "no" votes of Republicans John E. Sununu and Judd Gregg killed the tax provisions Thursday, as proponents fell one vote short of extending tax breaks for renewable energy sources, offset in part by stripping about $13 billion in tax breaks from the oil and gas industry.
...With the tally at 58-38 on a procedural vote that would determine the fate of the tax package and John McCain, R-Ariz., absent, just three senators had not voted: Sununu, Gregg and John Thune, R-S.D.
...The latest version of the bill included text taken from a bill (S 1697) sponsored by Sununu and cosponsored by Gregg and Thune. The bill would expand the tax credit for energy-efficient residential heaters to include wood pellet stoves.
...Sununu has received $25,000 from energy and natural resources political action committees so far this election cycle, according to CQ MoneyLine.
(Note also how St. McCain the global warming crusader was conspicuously absent, no doubt spending his time pandering to environmentally conscious NH primary Republican voters. And, additionally, Thune ended up voting for cloture.)
It's worth mentioning here that I paid a considerable sum of money I could barely afford spending on a wood-pellet stove in my former house. It had an incredibly negative impact on my budget at the time, but I did it because I saw it as a definable step in my life to discourage my country from, you know, invading more places for petroleum. A tax credit would have helped a lot more than Bush's pretend middle class tax cuts.
It's no wonder alternative energy leaders were eager to denounce John E. at a recent round table that Jeanne Shaheen put together. And likewise, that Jay Buckey has made energy independence the bedrock of his campaign platform.
How does Senator Judd Gregg (R) celebrate MLK day? I wonder, does he notice it at all? Because back when he was governor, he fought tooth and nail to keep New Hampshire from adopting the holiday. And note how the Manchester Union Leader takes great pains to outdo even Gregg in 1991:
We deplored the apparent determination to honor the ''other'' Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War era demagogue who vilified America and her armed forces with comparisons to the Nazis.
...And HB 127, as amended, gets around Governor Judd Gregg's call on lawmakers to ''hold fast to Fast Day'' and his silly insistence (House Bill 58) that King, an accused plagiarist, womanizer and bimbo-belter (Ralph Abernathy's book), must be honored only on a Sunday because...''King was a minister.''
Incidentally, one would hope that the Gregg spokesman who said Tuesday night that Senate approval of the Domaingue bill would produce a ''likely'' gubernatorial veto was not stating the governor's bottom-line position on this bill.
So, to sum up: the Union Leader at the time was in favor of a bill for a Civil Rights day because King was a treasonous, womanizing cheat, but nonetheless they were taking the high road by wanting the bill passed over Gregg's flat-out rejection of any work day honoring King. Or something like that.
Thank the good Lord the spirits of Meldrim Thompson and William Loeb don't rule our world anymore.
Our governor gave us an MLK day after all. But it sure wasn't Judd Gregg who did it. It was Jeanne Shaheen (D):
Signing Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law was especially important to me because I grew up in the South during segregation. I attended segregated schools. In the town there were separate drinking fountains for black and white. At the local movie theater white residents could sit on the main level of the theater but people of color could only sit in the balcony.
Speaking of Shaheen, how does her phone-jamming assisted challenger from 2002, Senator John E. Sununu (R), rate on the civil rights issues that Martin Luther King Jr. came to symbolize? Not so good, according to a new release from the always enlightening Stop Sununu group (no link yet):
In 2006, the nation's premiere civil rights organizations, the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, gave Sununu dismal ratings of 14% and 12% respectively for his civil rights voting record in Congress. Here are some reasons why:
* Sununu Supported Controversial Judge William Pryor...
* Sununu Voted For Controversial Nominee Charles Pickering....
* Sununu Voted to Prohibit Colleges Practicing Affirmative Action From Participating in the Higher Education Act...
* Sununu Believed That The Federal Government Should End Affirmative Action. When he was in the House, Sununu, on his Project Vote-Smart 2000 National Political Awareness Test, checked off that "The federal government should discontinue affirmative action programs."
And while we are on the subject of Sununu, here's Jay Buckey (D) on MLK day, who quite rightly realizes that the struggle for equality is an ongoing one:
We must commit ourselves to civil rights. Part of the American dream has been the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. For many, this comes from a lifelong committed relationship. Gays and lesbians are an important part of our community - they are our brothers and sisters, our co-workers, friends, and neighbors. Gay and lesbian couples should have the same legally recognized rights and responsibilities of civil marriage that heterosexual couples currently have.
I don't think it could be any clearer about what party stands firmer with the spirit and struggle of what King stood for.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is also a call to action for all of us to continue Dr. King's fight for civil rights and equal opportunity for all.
As Dr. King once said, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." As we remember Dr. King, we must commit ourselves to continuing his struggle for justice in our society.
We must commit ourselves to working for equal opportunity. While some individuals in America have unprecedented liberty, an increasing number are facing poor schools, poor health and limited opportunity. Over the last seven years of the Bush administration, our tax system has been skewed toward the rich, while working families have seen the costs of education and health care rise much faster than wages. To make sure that America remains a land of opportunity, we must work toward a fairer tax structure, universal health care, solid public education, and a better system of grants and loans so that students can afford to get the advanced education they need to succeed.
We must commit ourselves to civil rights. Part of the American dream has been the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. For many, this comes from a lifelong committed relationship. Gays and lesbians are an important part of our community - they are our brothers and sisters, our co-workers, friends, and neighbors. Gay and lesbian couples should have the same legally recognized rights and responsibilities of civil marriage that heterosexual couples currently have.
Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. But as Dr. King said in his famous speech the day before he died, "Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."
Dr. King's life shows that if we work together, we can make change a reality - and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.
If we needed confirmation that we have lost control of our energy future, we got it yesterday. President Bush was in Saudia Arabia trying to convince Kind Abdullah to help out our economy by increasing oil production. According the report I read, the response was "lukewarm." Clearly, we need to take back control of our future by ending our dependence on foreign oil. Today, I presented a plan to do just that-- and it appears below. I would be interested in your comments.
As you all know, our country is facing tremendous challenges.
Today, men and women from New Hampshire are risking their lives for us in Iraq. They are fighting to protect America's interests in the Mideast, and to protect our access to foreign oil.
Today, our nation's economy is being hard hit by oil prices, which have more than doubled since 2003, but our fight for energy independence is woefully under-funded.
Today, we are all living in a world where the polar ice caps are melting.
We need leadership in Washington that will address these challenges. I am running for the Senate because I believe we must protect America by going on the offensive and taking positive action to protect our nation's security -- and our future.
On the Senate race, I'm personally still undecided but leaning in favor of Jeanne Shaheen to go against John E. Sunoco. But in the bitter hangover from the establishment vs. change tenor of the presidential primary, stuff like this only helps Jay Buckey, I would imagine.
From the DSCC blog release on our primary turnout numbers:
New Hampshire voters clearly want change in Washington, and in November they can deliver it by defeating John Sununu.
From the DSCC email release via the Monitor:
New Hampshire voters clearly want change in Washington, and in November they can deliver it by electing Jeanne Shaheen.
More: Lest anyone use this post as a hobby-horse for either candidate or for DSCC-bashing, let me elaborate some:
* I don't begrudge the Chuck Schumer led DSCC in their recruiting efforts (I used to once). It's his and their job to find the candidates with the best chance of winning, and often that means name recognition and the ability to raise money, both of which Jeanne Shaheen has, and that's in addition to some very encouraging poll numbers. And considering the fact that there is a slim chance of electing a filibuster-proof majority this year, and considering also the Gopher Moat politics of (ironically) Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid's wilting over every filibuster threat, I think we might just need the luxury of 61 Democrats in the Senate to get anything done.
* The DSCC, at least under Schumer's leadersip, hasn't been shy about its preferences. In 2006, for example, they supported Jim Webb in Virginia pre-primary. I almost wish the DSCC and DCCC would drop the pretense of impartiality - it would be healthier all around, I think.
* The interests of Chuck Schumer and the DSCC very well may or very well may not be the same as the interests of the people of New Hampshire in their choice of who will represents them. Winning and issues are two different things, and sometimes they are aligned, and sometimes not.
* As some of you may remember before the freight train of the presidential primary ran over us all, I'm a big fan of a positively-waged primary, so I'm glad we still have at least two people in the race. But for it to be interesting, there needs to be a definable contrast in the candidates. There used to be a big one on Iraq (Buckey was against it from the beginning, like Obama), but since Shaheen announced her run she quickly moved to state that she regretted supporting giving Bush the authority to invade Iraq (like Dodd and Edwards, unlike Clinton). On many other issues they seem similar to me, so in that case I'm more inclined to lean toward Shaheen's tremendous advantage in name recognition. That said, I really look forward to finding out the differences among them as the year rolls on.
During the holidays, no doubt many of us had the chance to see "It's a Wonderful Life." In the movie, Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, runs a small bank, and has to contend with the hard-hearted Mr. Potter, who owns just about everything else in the small town of Bedford Falls. Fortunately, with the help of the community, George Bailey wins. By the end of the movie it's clear that America wins, too, since the Mr. Potters of the world aren't allowed to run the show.
But now Mr. Potter is back, with a vengeance.
Five days before Christmas, the employees at Customized Structures in Claremont were informed that the plant was closing the next day. No severance pay was offered (although that was changed once New Hampshire Governor John Lynch intervened).
It turns out that the Customized Structures is owned by a private equity firm called Watermill Ventures. Watermill buys distressed companies, fixes them, and then sells them to make a profit for their investors. The upside of this kind of arrangement is obvious. A company in trouble can get a new lease on life and the investors can make money. The employees are expected to do their part to make it all work out. But it's the downside that doesn't get enough attention. If things go wrong, who loses big? Watermill? The investors? Or the employees and the town of Claremont?
I have to get on the road in a few minutes, but I want to get this release out there.
Lebanon, NH --Jay Buckey, Democratic candidate to represent New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate, said that Michael Mukasey's appointment today as Attorney General is a disappointment for anyone who values the Constitution and common sense.
"I couldn't believe that he refused to condemn water boarding," said Buckey, a former flight surgeon in the Air Force Reserve. "Most commonsense folks would look at that and say, 'Gee, if it were done to me, I'd consider it torture.' It doesn't take a constitutional scholar to figure that out."
Buckey said that he doesn't question Mukasey's intelligence or qualifications, but he's concerned about the Attorney General's backbone, and he would have voted against Mukasey's confirmation. New Hampshire's current Senators, Republicans John Sununu and Judd Gregg, voted to confirm Mukasey.
* How fitting, that on the fifth anniversary of the phone jamming crime, Jeanne Shaheen is beating John Sununu in the latest Survey USA via Roll Call poll by double digits (h/t SSP, sample size around 650, w/ MoE from 3.8-4.0%):
Jeanne Shaheen (D): 53
John Sununu (R-inc): 42
Undecided: 5
Poetic justice, don't you think? And look who's holding the Sprinter to under 50%:
Jay Buckey (D): 36
John Sununu (R-inc): 49
Undecided: 16
* Speaking of Sununu's criminal anniversary, the NHDP held a conference call today on the ongoing, unanswered questions surrounding that assault on Democracy. Said Kathy Sullivan on the DoJ slow-walk (sorry, no linky yet):
"So, I want to know why was the Justice Department dragging its' feet? Who were they talking to? Were they getting instructions from someone?"
Paul Twomey chimed in on the importance of Congressional investigations:
In the civil case, we went as far as we could go with it. As I said, we don't have the right to put people in front of a grand jury, we don't have the right to make people testify to grant them immunity, that's something that Congress can do and the Department of Justice can do. It appears the Department of Justice isn't going to do its job so we're going to rely on Congress and the Congressional Committees to protect the people."
* Jeanne Shaheen now has a campaign manager, Bill Hyers. Bill ran Kirsten Gillibrand's successful upset victory in the House last year, and "also managed the come-from-behind victory of Michael Nutter for Mayor of Philadelphia in 2007," according to the press release. And if that isn't a good enough pedigree for getting a campaign ready for a long fight, he served in the Army in Bosnia. Doesn't sound like the kind of guy who will let the inevitable GOP dirty tricks stand unopposed, does he?
* Quote of the day:
John Sununu is one of the nation's better senators.
...He doesn't believe in funding global warming conspiracy theorists (unlike, say, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee), and he supported drilling in ANWR.
I know it's happening with more and more frequency these days, but I still get a kick out of seeing established public figures blog, especially if their public history predates the rise of the netroots.
From the revamped Shaheen campaign site (h/t Judy Reardon), here's the Gov herself:
What a Month
The past month has been a whirl wind. Winding up at the Kennedy School. Pulling off an announcement event at my home in just two days. Hiring staff (we're up to three -- Dan Jasnow, Betti Packman and Vanessa Ide who both worked on Steve Marchand's campaign). And, groan, fundraising. But I've also made it a point to get around the state and talk with people and hear there concerns and hopes. Like the staff and students at the Adult Learning Center in Nashua. And the workers at Page Belting in Boscawen. The cost of health care is on everyone's mind. It's been an exciting first month. I will do my best to post on the blog on a regular basis about what I'm seeing and hearing on the campaign trail and I hope I'll run into you as I travel around New Hampshire.
by: Jeanne Shaheen | Oct 18 at 8 PM
I do hope Governor Shaheen will consider widening her blogging horizon to BH someday.
(And of course, let's not forget that Blue Hamster Jay Buckey has a campaign blog as well).
Dr. Jay Buckey, candidate for the United States Senate from New Hampshire knows about health care. He's a doctor, after all. But, he says "single payer," the terminology, not the idea, is mistaken. Because, as he, I think correctly, points out, we all pay for health care, whether through taxes, insurance, co-pays or out-of-pocket, and that's not really going to change. What we want to do is make sure everybody gets health care and the administration of the payments is more efficient. What we want is for the money to go to health care; not paperwork or middlemen.
Today, five years after the Senate passed the Iraq War Resolution, men and women in our military are still fighting and dying in Iraq. If we want to move forward, we must face difficult strategic questions, not just discuss dates and numbers of brigades. If you're talking about Iraq and you're not talking about energy, then you're not really talking about Iraq.
I didn't support the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, but now that we are involved in the war, there's no easy way out. Our military and diplomatic options in the Persian Gulf are severely hindered by our dependence on oil.
The debate about how to end the war should be about more than troop numbers or timetables for withdrawal. Successfully drawing down our troops in Iraq must be accompanied by drawing down our oil consumption and committing ourselves to developing technology for safe, renewable energy sources.
The global economy, the environment, and our national security all depend on America rising to the challenge of creating a new energy economy. As an astronaut, I know what this nation can do when we commit ourselves to a program. If we had an Apollo Program for energy, we could regain control over our future, stimulate our economy, and inspire the world.
We welcomed first-timer Ryan Silver from the Chris Dodd campaign and got an update on their steering committee on the Seacoast, as well as a heads-up about the Senator's next visit to New Hampshire on October 18-21.
Our major attraction for the evening was Dr. Jay Buckey (accompanied by Jay Jr.) who let us quiz him to our hearts' content. That the good doctor, a candidate for the United States Senate from New Hampshire, is a strong proponent of universal health care and an emphasis on preventive care didn't need a lot of explaining. (There's lots of detail on his campaign page, which I urge you to consult and, if it appeals to you, sign up).
Buckey
Even though there's almost a year to go before the New Hampshire primary for all offices but the Presidency, Dr. Jay Buckey is on the road to meet the grass roots. It's appropriate to refer to him as Doctor, not only because he is a medical doctor and professor of medicine, but because both his primary issues--health care and energy diversification--are related to his technical background and experience.
* The NHDP has re-launched Stop Sununu. It's loaded with stuff on John E.'s sorry record.
* Speaking of that sorry record, look for Sununu to do the following more and more: reach out on votes where the Republican position is truly knuckle-dragging, such as today's failed restoration of habeas corpus and the Webb amendment for more rest for soldiers. But make no mistake: he only does this when he gets a green light from McConnell, provided that there are enough rule of law haters like Judd Gregg to maintain a filibuster. Or to put it another way, silly season time demands the pretense of interest in our Constitution. My man (and bill author) Chris Dodd speaks out on the unthinkable reality of Republicans blocking of one of the most basic, traditional tenets of law in the western world:
"America's moral standing, and with it the security of the United States, suffered another setback today, atop a pile of setbacks that has accumulated over the past six years. The outcome of this vote is both symbolic and tragic.
Yesterday Fergus Cullen released the following statement:
CONCORD - A new Rasmussen poll released today shows a five point gap in the US Senate race. The poll which is posted on RasmussenReports.com shows Jeanne Shaheen leading Senator John Sununu by only five points, 48% to 43%.
The poll also shows that 50% of New Hampshire residents support the General Petraeus report calling for a gradual reduction of US forces in Iraq.
"This poll shows how out of touch Jeanne Shaheen, Katrina Swett, Jay Buckey and the angry left wing democrats are on the war. Voters are not supporting a rash surrender in Iraq, but rather a thoughtful measured approach similar to that supported by Senator John Sununu," said today by New Hampshire Republican Chair Fergus Cullen.
Even if one is willing to forgive the grammatical weirdness in the last sentence, statements like this cannot go unchallenged. The Buckey Campaign has issued the following press release:
Senate Candidate Jay Buckey Responds to NH Republican Attack
Lebanon, NH - "John Sununu voted for the Iraq resolution and, back in 2003, when showing leadership on Iraq would have made an importance difference, John Sununu didn't step forward," said US Senate candidate Jay Buckey.
"The facts and his record don't support the notion that Sununu would provide real leadership now," said Buckey. "As citizens, we want our senators to look at the facts, assess them critically, and make good decisions. We don't need them to follow the president uncritically, as John Sununu has done on Iraq."
