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Many on this this site, with few exceptions, have bashed Landrigan, Andy Smith, the UL corporation, NH Trad Med, the Hearsts etc., as maintaining an old outmoded idea of NH as a Republican bastion. Old ways die hard. I happened to read his column today to find out we are no longer a majority party. Blech.
Sunday, November 14, 2010 Democrats poured money into races and watched it disappear
Kevin Landrigan
Cleaning house
State Democrats aren't waiting for official terms to end to assume their minority role.
The party's website got scrubbed last week, with reference to "N.H.'s majority party'' deleted and the smiling faces of still-sitting Congressmen Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter removed from their top right billing on the home page.
Today's columns have similar themes: The flap over a railroad contract, the decision about JUA money, Rep Peter Schmidt's (D-Dover) question to Obama. Lauren Dorgan's column, her last for the Concord Monitor, is an interesting review of the political changes in New Hampshire since she began writing for the paper five years ago.
The state has moved miles on social issues since then, particularly on gay rights, with the Legislature passing civil unions and gay marriage in quick succession. The parental notification law on abortion is history. The state joined a regional greenhouse gas effort. A new school funding law was passed that Democratic leaders hope will finally end the legal saga that began with Claremont.
These are things to be proud of. And also things the Republicans will repeal if they ever win back majorities in both houses and get the corner office.
Dorgan continues:
You could actually argue that this state has become more libertarian over the past few years: Legislators nixed Real ID, eschewed major new taxes (while approving increases and fees), shot down multiple efforts to require seat belts, and, if you see it this way, widened the gap between church and state by expanding rights to same-sex couples.
Landrigan opens with results of a survey done by Millennium, the group that wants to put slot machines in Rockingham Park, that says (surprise, surprise) that State Reps support expanded gambling 172-150. I guess that's why it passed this session--oh, but it didn't. There's always next session. At least it keeps lobbyists employed and gives the newspapers something to write about. The issue will be around for the foreseeable future. My tip: next time don't have the industry write the legislation.
There may be two additional lawsuits filed against the state budget.
A coalition of local and county government groups is raising money for a lawsuit to challenge a reduction in the state's contribution to local and county retirement funds. State officials believe they can win that case because the state has cut its contribution before - from 40 percent to 30 percent in the 1980s.
The third is to challenge the contribution of $65 a month towards health insurance now mandated for retirees under 65.
Transportation Commissioner George Campbell changed the name of a proposal to add state highway to the turnpike system, thus allowing tolls to be collected. This was rejected by the legislature under the name "aggregation" so he changed the name to "consolidation".
Ovide Lamontagne hired conservatives Jim Merrill and Maureen Mooney for his exploratory campaign. Mooney is interesting because she is a fairly high profile conservative woman. It's still not clear to me how or whether conservative women activists will line up for Ayotte.
Dorgan's column was a bit heavy on Sununu, probably because of his recent sit-down with the editors there. He had a lot to say about Souter (the past) but this interesting tidbit emerged at the end of the piece:
Asked about former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte's transition to a political figure, Sununu said he doesn't "know Kelly that well." But, he said, when it comes to fundraising, he thinks she'll get a boost.
"Senator Gregg cares a lot about that Senate seat, and I think will be quite helpful," he said.
So the state chair of the GOP doesn't even know the "front runner" candidate or where she stands on issues and it seems Senator Gregg is in the driver's seat with respect to that election.
Stay tuned, the Republican US Senate primary just may get interesting.
