A No Joke Roundup

by: Dean Barker

Tue Apr 01, 2008 at 22:04:52 PM EDT

*  Kathy Sullivan and Peter Burling are running for two at-large DNC seats.  I can't imagine two people more committed to maintaining the tradition of the New Hampshire primary this side of Jim Splaine.

*  Dean Spiliotes argues that the way Obama can reach working class Democrats in the remaining primaries is to go more retail.  And it looks like that very phenomenon is playing out.

* Fergus & Co. would love for this one to be an April Fool's joke, but it's true. ActBlue rocks.

* The Monitor writeup of Spc. David Selmat's funeral yesterday contains this fascinating tidbit which explains his transition from the Army to the NH National Guard:

Stelmat enlisted in the Army in 2003 and was soon deployed to Afghanistan. He had hoped to become a medic but was instead an infantryman and, at times, conflicted.

"Deeply patriotic, even more deeply humanitarian, he made the fateful decision to lay down his arms in violation of an order to shoot into an area that he feared might have civilians," Bascom said. "He was stripped of his status and was sent home with a general discharge."

Stelmat returned to New Hampshire, enrolled at New Hampshire Technical Institute and pursued training as an emergency medical technician. He began lobbying to return to service with the National Guard.

Five Years Later: Senate Poll and Roundup

by: Dean Barker

Mon Nov 05, 2007 at 19:43:58 PM EST

Jeanne Shaheen (D): 53
John Sununu (R-inc): 42
Undecided: 5

Jay Buckey (D): 36
John Sununu (R-inc): 49
Undecided: 16

"So, I want to know why was the Justice Department dragging its' feet? Who were they talking to? Were they getting instructions from someone?"

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."

* 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.

The GOP Phone Scandal: John E. Sununu Has To Tell What He Knows

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 23:22:50 PM EST

Election Day, November 5th, 2002.  It was a long day in Manchester.  I remember it as clearly as, as if only a half a decade has passed.  I was there in Manchester, on my final day helping a long-time friend, Dave Gelinas, in his campaign for New Hampshire State Senate.  We knew it wasn't shaping up as a good year for Democrats. 

One of the more critical things on that morning was to coordinate our activities with those of the Democratic Party.  Their headquarters was some distance away from the office where I was, along with several others involved in various campaigns.  But as we used our telephones, all we heard were busy signals, for the longest time.  Busy signals.  We didn't have so many cell phones in those days of long ago, but that was our only alternative, when they worked.

I don't know if we had an easier morning and a better organized day if Dave Gelinas might have won.  He certainly would have done better, because the inability to get in touch and keep in touch with those who we needed to in order to coordinate activities of getting out the vote, covering the polls, and other telephone outreach to voters hurt us.

Dave didn't win, although he did better than many other Democrats on the ballot.  That year was indeed a tough time to be a Democrat.  It's hard to tell if Dave would have won if the opposition wasn't playing strange games with those airways. 

Other Democrats whose results might have been affected by Republican shenanigans were also on the ballot.  Two candidates, then-Governor Jeanne Shaheen and then-Congressperson John E. Sununu, were running for the United States Senate.  Sununu won by a small margin. 

What took years to learn, of course, was that there was a concerted effort to manipulate that election.  The New Hampshire Republican Party was playing dirty tricks -- blocking all telephone communication to and from several of the get-out-the-vote offices of Democrats and local firefighters in Manchester and some other cities.  Not a nice thing to do.  In fact, quite illegal to do. 

Eventually, thanks to the persistence of then-NHDP Chair Kathy Sullivan and current Chair Ray Buckley, the NH Republican Party finally agreed to pay some $125,000 to settle a civil suit brought by the Democrats.  In addition, the Executive Director of the NH Republican Party when the phone blocking occurred,  Chuck McGee, and a dumb Republican consultant, Allen Raymond, each pleaded guilty to felony charges and served some prison time.  Then, defended by a million-dollar defense paid for by the national Republican Party, the former Republican National Committee Director Jim Tobin was convicted of wrong doing by a federal jury.  He was also New England Bush/Cheney chair in 2004.  Following the trail yet?

This was an effort to steal democracy, phone call by phone call.  Maybe not on the grand scale of Watergate.  But nevertheless, as despicable as Watergate.  Just Google "John Sununu, 2002, phone scandal," and see. 

Five years ago.  That's 60 months.  Another election, perhaps the most important ever in our nation -- at least in modern history -- is coming within 12 months.  It's time we get to the bottom of what happened in 2002.  It cannot be forgotten.  It cannot be repeated.  Many American men and women have died to protect the freedoms and democracy that some Republicans were successful that day of taking away.  This is serious stuff.

In Washington, the House Judiciary Committee is setting up an investigation into the New Hampshire GOP Phone-Jamming Scandal.  United States Senator John E. Sununu should volunteer to testify.  He needs to tell if he knew anything, what he knew, and when he knew it.  Personally, I hope he knows nothing about it.  But if he does, he should say so. 

And another question remains that someone might know the answer for:  were there other dirty tricks by Republicans in that election of 2002, or since? 

America -- home of the brave and home of the free -- isn't easy.  It's not a "101" class.  Democracy itself it hard work.  It takes all of us to do it.  Let's all work to be sure that honesty and integrity is guaranteed in our future elections. That requires all of us to be on guard. 

I think NH Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley will be working hard being a watchdog on John E. Sununu when he testifies.  Sununu must do it.  We have to know.

Former NHDP Chair Starts "Grassroots" Draft-Shaheen Movement

by: Dean Barker

Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 07:49:03 AM EDT

Sullivan said her efforts drew interest last Saturday, when she mentioned the idea to some colleagues at the state Democratic Party convention.

By the end of the convention, people were approaching Sullivan and asking how to sign on, she said.

..."It's so important for us to take back the Senate seat that I think we need our best candidate," Sullivan said.

"These are great candidates," Sullivan said about the three. "We need our greatest candidate."

I hope Ms. Sullivan will consider writing a diary on Blue Hampshire about the Draft Shaheen movement.  State blogs, where politically interested citizens who are not always connected to party establishment come together, are places where draft candidate movements often find their source of energy (one recent example is the Draft DeFazio movement in Oregon).

State Republicans Continue to Hurt

by: Laura Clawson

Thu May 17, 2007 at 19:17:07 PM EDT

Now consider whether to go to their fundraiser:

State Republican Party chairman Fergus Cullen is pitching the Republican State Committee annual dinner on June 6, the day after the Presidential debate at Saint Anselm College.

In a recent memo to "Friends of the Party," he wrote that former Democratic chairman Kathy Sullivan said one reason her party did so well last November was because the GOP was "under-funded and under-staffed."

"She was right," Cullen wrote, "and that advantage continues." The Democrats have nine staff positions, "and we have two."

That's got to be a tough one.  On the one hand, the NH GOP desperately needs that money.  On the other hand, well, part of it will probably go to the NHDP.  My heart aches for them.

Sununu Has A Big Target on His Back

by: Evan Carlson

Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 15:04:50 PM EST

There have been a number of posts on Blue Hampshire talking about the vulnerability of Sununu already, but Washington is beginning to sit up and take notice as well.

I think that Kathy Sullivan said it best:

"I think Sununu will have problems in 2008 that go beyond [President] George Bush and goes to John Sununu, his voting record, and who he is," said Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party.

On election night, when New Hampshire voters tossed out Republican Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley, Democratic activists immediately turned their attention to Sununu, saying "he's next," Sullivan related.

However, the article does point out that Sununu already had more than $560,000 in his campaign account as of September 30.

Sununu's got a head start and we're going to have to work hard to unseat him starting right now!

Sullivan Won't Seek Re-Election as Party Chair

by: Laura Clawson

Sat Dec 16, 2006 at 14:40:22 PM EST

After we thank Sullivan for her service, the question becomes who will take her place.  And that will be something to keep an eye on.

Marchand for Senate?

by: Dean Barker

Fri Nov 24, 2006 at 12:00:00 PM EST

"If Steve decided to run, he'd be an excellent candidate," said N.H. Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan. "He's a very smart, very personable and he's a very hard worker, and I think he'd be a great candidate."

Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who lost to Sununu in 2002, recently told the Boston Globe she has not ruled out a rematch against Sununu. The article also mentions state Sens. Maggie Hassan, Joe Foster and Peter Burling as potential candidates, as well as Marchand.

(They forgot the Blue Hampshire dark horse favorite, Dayton Duncan, but whatever...follow me below the fold for the Mayor's dilemma.)