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And, in light of NY-23, is pushing that meme for all it's worth!
Poor Charlie - he could've run for Senate and avoided all this nonsense by making it a two-person race against Ayotte and touting his political experience over her lack thereof.
Now he might lose the primary to someone who better represents where Republicans are in New Hampshire, circa 2009.
It is so nice to be on the same page as Jennifer Horn these days. She and I agree - the old-style New Hampshire Republican is done.
It's high time to clarify what it means to be a Republican in NH-02, via a proxy comparison in NY-23:
When asked, Horn, an upstate New York native, said she backs the Conservative Party candidate. She said her endorsement doesn't mean anything in New York (she isn't even from that district) but she hopes it adds to a national conversation about the soul of the Republican Party and the role of the NRCC in local primaries.
"Certainly Republicans in New York's 23rd are expressing a strong sense the pro-choice, pro-big government, pro-tax increase, NRCC-endorsed candidate is not their candidate," said Horn in an interview. ""I do think we will see this dynamic unfold in my race. People are tired of having Washington tell them what to do, whether it is what health insurance to have, how to spend their money or who to vote for."
Sure, the NRCC wants Bass (and for the first district, no less!). But they seem to have forgotten that NH Republicans have to want him too before he can be the nominee.
"We were promised jobs and a growing economy, but instead we got a takeover of the auto industry, a job-killing cap-and-trade bill and health care legislation that threatens the very foundation of our democracy," Horn said in announcing her candidacy.
That must be why the public option is supported by Americans in commanding majorities in poll after poll.
These statements are so, so important to have on record. Because if and when meaningful health insurance legislation is passed, they will look as quaint and bizarre as Gov. Styles Bridges' rants against the New Deal.
But Ms. Horn does have one fan (from 2008, at least) - Charles Bass:
"I can't imagine any other candidate who could do the job of representing New Hampshire better."
I think Ms. Horn has her first TeeVee ad already made right there.
Adding: Alternate Title? "Horn Defends Democracy from Four-Month Old Infant"
[Bass] now could just as easily lose to Jennifer Horn competing for votes in what's left of the Republican party base in the second district. Now that firmly right-wing crowd can choose between Charlie, and someone more like themselves and their talk radio leaders.
...this race, interestingly, has just turned into a referendum on the 2009 dictionary definition of the New Hampshire Republican.
Well, today, the referendum officially began. James Pindell (boldface mine):
Asked about Bass, Horn flatly said while she liked him personally, but "he was a great Congressman for his day." But that when he lost in 2006 flipping power to Democrats voters had "fired" Republicans "with cause."
I completely agree with Jennifer Horn. She is without a doubt more representative of what's left of the Republican base in CD2 today than Charlie Bass. They deserve someone who represents them well.
And with prominent supporters such as Chuck Douglas, Tom Eaton, Tom Thomson, and Ken Merrifield, it's going to be a lot harder for the NRCC to bully her around and force Bass on the second district elephants.
Adding: as usual, Dante's assessment is spot on:
UNH political scientist Danta Scala says name recognition and likely fundraising advantages would make Bass the clear favorite should he enter the race. Scala adds, though, that getting out of the primary, let alone back to congress, may not be easy.
"You know Charlie bass is returning to the GOP and the political scent and it's changed, drastically even since 2006, and it's unclear that there are Charlie Bass Republicans to come home to, I think that's the difficulty, especially in a primary."
A little while ago I lamented how weak it was of Charlie Bass to run for his old seat instead of going for the US Senate.
Now Jennifer Horn has decided she will not be pushed out by his name brand and six terms and the NRCC.
Bass could've run, and, in my opinion, beaten Kelly Ayotte for the GOP Senate nomination.
Instead, he now could just as easily lose to Jennifer Horn competing for votes in what's left of the Republican party base in the second district. Now that firmly right-wing crowd can choose between Charlie, and someone more like themselves and their talk radio leaders.
Serves him right. And I guess that "moderate" meme isn't going to work out too well for him now.
Adding: this race, interestingly, has just turned into a referendum on the 2009 dictionary definition of the New Hampshire Republican.
Jennifer Horn livetweeted the President's speech to the joint session of Congress, and had an online Joe Wilson moment:
Not true--majority of American drs oppose this plan...
While it's impossible to know exactly, from the date and timestamp I'm guessing that was in response to these words from the President:
Our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses; hospitals, seniors' groups, and even drug companies -- many of whom opposed reform in the past.
I don't know to what reckoning of American doctors Ms. Horn refers. But I do know that five days after the speech, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, after "surveying a nationally representative sample of 2,130 physicians across America" found that 63% of them support the kind of reform the President has proposed (the number is even higher in the northeast). And that's not even counting the ten percent of docs who want to go beyond what the President has proposed, into a single payer system:
"There should be no confusion about where doctors stand in the debate over expanding health insurance coverage: they want reform," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "This survey reveals important information about the perspective of physicians on issues central to the health reform debate. Policy makers should listen to their doctors."
So there you have it. Maybe not a majority after all.
Three out of every four US docs wanting meaningful health insurance reform? That's what I would call a supermajority.
After months of a great empty void in my Google Alerts, suddenly, and interestingly timed right after Labor Day, Charlie Bass returns to the stage to tell us how to run town halls, and how to fix health care with the same tired old answers he never actually pushed for during his own six terms.
I note with interest that his not really a health care fix came right after Monitor mentioned that Ayotte and Lamontagne have completely ignored having positions on the most pressing legislative topic facing the country.
At the same time, Jennifer Horn dramatically announces that she's finished with her radio show (I had no idea she was even back on) to explore another run for Congress, this time picking up the tea party lingo of "individual liberties and personal freedoms" being "assaulted."
My best guess is that Bass is being coy about whether he will run, and for what, and that this is forcing Horn's hand to make grand statements about not being on the radio anymore.
My own advice to Charlie (as if he would ever take it, LOL) would be to run for the senate. Ayotte's run a DC-style cookie cutter campaign up till now, devoid of personality and real solutions, and folks are too scared of the Judd Gregg Ayotte coup to give Lamontagne more umph than he should get (though I have to say, he's done much better for himself than I expected, partly due to the Ayotte missteps). But the Bass name brand would overcome that fear. He could beat Kelly Ayotte in the primary, I do believe.
Plus, a rematch against Hodes would be loads of fun. In what would be four years later, I'm still convinced our ideas are better than his for moving the country forward. Let's have that debate!
As for Jennifer Horn, please please please run again for NH-02. Please.
While her memories of NH Obama-Kennedy visits are mystifying, former Republican press secretary and current New Hampshire Institute of Politics Political Director Jennifer Donahue's prescription for health insurance "reform" is crystal clear:
After the political capital invested, President Obama cannot afford to let this legislation run out of the House. The only alternative: go with a moderate plan, get the Baucus six to push it through, and leave Members of the House no choice.
...The "public option" has to be minimized and renamed; a spoon full of sugar, after all, helps the medicine go down. "Co-op" is too loaded a term; try "non-profit optional choice for those who have no insurance" instead. Even if restructuring the public option alienates some Democrats, gains public approval, and has the potential to bring Republicans over to the bill.
...The bill that the White House desires must come out of the Senate Finance Committee, and it must be the Kennedy legacy bill that can pass with more than a party line vote. Otherwise, its [sic] buyers remorse for all three branches, and Republicans will do a victory dance.
Or this will happen: health insurance reform will pass on a party line vote. People will be as satisfied with the public option as they are with Medicare. Others will no longer be dropped from coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Small businesses will suffer huge relief over health coverage costs. And because they bet the 2010 farm on destroying such legislation, NONE OF IT will be thanks to the Republicans.
Republicans will privately bemoan the loss this will mean for them for electoral purposes, and, without missing a single beat, publicly scream and shout over the next big issue for their moneyed interests (such as energy legislation). But I'm no David Broder; what do I know?
I predict the GOP will use that Kennedy legacy to try to kill Kennedy's dream of health care for all Americans. They will claim that unless a bill is bi-partisan and supported by at least 1,375 Republican Senators, it won't have That Kennedy Quality of reaching across the aisle. This talking point will subsequently reverberate throughout the traditional media, precisely because it plays right into the heart of hearts of Village Broderism.
But as it turns out, I was already beaten to the punch. Part I, via NHGOP Chair John H. Sununu:
"Senator Kennedy was a principled political advocate who was able to work across philosophical differences to produce good, effective legislation. He will be remembered as the classic model for great bipartisan policy development."
And now follows the Village in Part II, courtesy former Republican press secretary and current NHIOP Political Director Jennifer Donahue:
If Ted Kennedy had been the one to shepherd health care, as President Obama intended, we'd probably have a consensus. Only Kennedy could have brought Republicans over to the bill.
In the Village, it's impossible for Republicans ever to be acting in bad faith for purely political reasons.
Obviously the problem we've had with health insurance reform is not Republicans (and a few key Democrats) being obstructionists throughout. It's that rank and file Democrats aren't as good as Ted Kennedy in catering to Republicans' shifting bad faith arguments.
As Atrios said yesterday, it's time to put on the hipwaders.
UPDATE: So. Freaking. Predictable.
"There is nobody else like him," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who alternated with Kennedy over the years as chairman and ranking minority-party member of the health committee. "If he had been physically up to it and been engaged on this, we probably would have an agreement by now."
Once again, Republicans are blameless. It's Kennedy's fault he wasn't around, and Democrats' fault for not being like Ted Kennedy and giving Republicans everything they want (or so the meme goes).
If you're a top prospective GOP Senate candidate who's introducing herself to voters in preparation for a nationally watched Senate race, it's probably not great form to spend any time hangin' with the anchor-woman who described Obama and Michelle's fist bump as a "terrorist fist jab."
For me, I remain steadfast in what I said on Thursday. Types like Hill who shilled such slime innuendo (many more exempla besides the "terrorist fist-jab" at the link) have paved the way for the frightening fringe that's been on display all summer.
Do Kelly Ayotte, Jennifer Horn, and Ovide Lamontagne want to be associated with that? If they really wanted to reach mainstream voters who decide elections, they should be denouncing people like Hill.
They'll both be in Jennifer Horn's backyard raising Benjamins for the Nashua GOP.
FAUX host Hill is most (in)famous for her incredibly classy "terrorist fist-jab" comment about Barack and Michelle Obama:
FAUX News cancelled her show the following week.
You know, Hill was rightly ridiculed for that comment. But there's a larger issue that's not funny at all. That kind of constant drumbeat of sick innuendo that Hill and others peddle on FAUX has paved the way for the truly frightening spectacle we've seen unfold this summer. Hill can schmooze with Kelly Ayotte and Jennifer Horn all she wants, but she bears responsibility in part for the currently fact-free, unhinged nature of the GOP base.
Here's some Media Matters documentation about Hill beyond the aforementioned slime:
Fox's E.D. Hill falsely claimed that "U.N. meteorologists" say "the planet may actually cool off for the 10th year in a row"
Fox News' Hill: Are Latinos "going to vote for the person who basically is going to give them the most for ... the least?"
Fox's Hill on Clinton's "Southern drawl": "[I]f she was attending, say, a GLAAD convention, would she speak with a lisp?"
I swear I had nothing to do this time with keeping the Jennifer S. Horn-Palin meme alive. It's all Sarah's fault:
"While not exactly shopping the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate, sources say Palin representatives have been quietly testing the waters to see how much interest radio syndicators have for her."
So, try as Ms. Horn might to run away from a comparison she once cultivated, it looks like Fergus Cullen may once again be able to say to the delight of the crowd, "She's the Sarah Palin of New Hampshire!"
Jennifer Horn live-tweeted the Obama presser, taking shots at POTUS all the way, including:
#tcot #gop why is the only alternative "doing nothing" Couldn't we actually write legislation that fixes the problem?
Well, apparently, her Grand Old Party can't:
"GOP leaders urged Democrats to start over on their health bill Thursday without saying when they will release a bill of their own," Roll Call reports.
"House Republicans released a four-page outline of their ideas five weeks ago, promising to release details and a bill."
"But Republicans have yet to do so. They still haven't said how much their plan will cost, how they will pay for it or how many people their plan will cover, although they have said it will be cheaper than the $1.6 trillion House Democratic plan and build on a private health insurance system without a government-run insurance option."
It's terribly, awfully unfair to compare Kelly Ayotte's quitting to Sarah Palin's quitting.
Mostly because the state elephants have now decided, not long after they wanted to put her one heartbeat away from the presidency, that the Alaskan governor is toxic:
Former Republican Congressional nominee Jennifer Horn said Palin quit before the job was done. Former state Republican Chair Fergus Cullen was her fan until this latest episode and he no longer gives her the benefit of the doubt.
...If she does visit the early primary state Cullen expects that she would still draw a big crowd out of the "curiosity factor"...
Of course, things were a little different less than a year ago. McClatchy, 10/28/08 (archived, emphasis mine):
Wherever Jennifer Horn campaigns, as she tries to unseat incumbent Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes in New Hampshire's 2nd District, the comparisons have followed.
"She's the Sarah Palin of New Hampshire!" state Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen announced, to the delight of the crowd at last week's John McCain rally at St. Anselm College.
"There are obvious parallels with Governor Palin," Horn acknowledges. "Forty-four years old, five kids, and someone who's coming into politics as an outsider, ready to reform, with the real-life experience to know how a government that doesn't work hurts real people."
The Palin comparison, adds Horn, "certainly doesn't bother me."
More Twittiocy from Jennifer S. Horn-Palin - now available in green:
Perhaps if Ms. Horn were not busy painting her face green in an attempt to leverage the Iranian situation into American partisan GOoPer politics, she would know where President Obama stands, i.e., on the side of the protestors, but in such a way that it doesn't get thousands of them killed. Unlike "Bomb-bomb-Iran" guy's cowboy diplomacy:
Adding: "Where does the Pres stand?" elwood reminds us: the president stands with the protesters, even to the degree of quietly working to keep the same New Media platform open that Green Horn is using against him.
Poor Charlie Bass isn't the only one who has to come up with dopey excuses about the whether or what of the race he'll run.
Until Father and Son Sununu decree whether John E. shall be the Senate nominee, the pecking order for everything else is all gummed up. Like Charlie, this is forcing Jennifer S. Horn-Palin come up with excuses for her indecision as well. Pindell:
"I am leaning heavily toward running for the House of Representatives," Horn said. "I will make the final decision when the time is right for both me and my family."
..."Quite honestly, I am most looking forward to spending a whole lot of time with my own kids this summer and I will not be worrying about politics," she said.
On a side note, Pindell brings up an interesting point - with the national GOP at war with itself and Party Boss Limbaugh, right-wing talk radio ideologues may not be as attractive anymore as they may have been just one cycle ago:
In so doing, Horn is elbowing her way back into a debate about not only who will run for the seat, but who will speak for the Republican Party. Horn, a talk show host, was heavily recruited to run in 2008 partly because she a fresh conservative voice for the party. Now, with incumbent Democrat Paul Hodes running for the Senate, the National Republican Congressional Committee has been indicating they want winners and not perfect conservatives, a scenario that could benefit Bass, a self-described moderate.
