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Mr. Sununu's petulant comments are partisan politics at its worst. Instead of engaging in a thoughtful conversation or offering any ideas for putting New Hampshire back to work, Mr. Sununu resorted to petty political attacks and childish name-calling. He showed disrespect to the Office of the Presidency.
The Texas GOP Party Platform include criminalizing sodomy and throwing anyone who issues a marriage license to a same-sex couple (even though such licenses are not valid in the state) into jail. This includes platforms on homosexuality, marriage and divorce.
Will John Sununu and the NH Republican Party disavow these planks from the Texas GOP Party Platform? http://static.texastribune.org...
Will Sununu and the NH GOP continue to be out of step with the views of the people of New Hampshire?
The following Op-Ed from Executive Director Mike Brunelle was published in Fosters Daily Democrat on Saturday. I thought the BH folks might appreciate it:
Former state party chair is too late; GOP has already been overrun by the fringe
Fergus Cullen, the former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, published an Op-Ed last week denouncing the hateful remarks made by right wing political activist and radio show host Doug Lambert. Enough has been said about Mr. Lambert's shocking comments that I won't recount them here.
But in the piece, Cullen also warned the state Republican Party of the political perils of pandering to its most fringe members. While I applaud his efforts, they are too little, too late.
Recently we have seen all the Republican candidates for higher office clamoring to get endorsements from the far right wing of the party. For example, they have been actively courting the radical conservative group, Club for Growth, and seeking endorsements from the extremist Republican Senator Jim DeMint.
In fact, the New Hampshire Republican Party has effectively purged its ranks of middle-of-the-road Republicans. Over the last decades, they have "purified" their party, driving out moderates like Hillary Cleveland, Lou D'Allesandro, Ralph Hough, Dave Nixon, Frank Davis, Jim Mackay, the late Susan and Malcolm McLane and hundreds of other former top NH Republicans.
And recently, the state party has taken the final step - ousting Cullen as chairman and replacing him with failed former Governor John H. Sununu. Now, Chairman Sununu is doing everything he can to spread anger and hate to rile up the base.
Sununu recently outlined exactly this strategy in an interview with Foster's Daily Democrat. His goal: to make the Republican Party as angry possible.
Over the summer, we saw this strategy in action. The New Hampshire Tea Party Coalition, a group of local Republicans and radical activists, used scare tactics to try to stop progress on providing affordable, quality health insurance to all Americans. This was not a peaceful protest - they regularly used threats and intimidation tactics that were reprehensible.
And there is no line between the leadership of the New Hampshire Republican Party and the "Tea Party" crowd. Jack Kimball, currently the Republican candidate for governor, is one of the movement's lead organizers.
Kimball is so out of touch with New Hampshire values he declared that there had been a "communist and socialist" takeover of America. In order to protect himself from the "serious things coming," he then purchased large amounts of ammunition for his assault weapons. He even started a new group aimed at "keeping an eye on the president." And in response to the government's efforts to help struggling homeowners, Kimball actually urged individuals to stop paying their mortgages.
Chairman Sununu and the state Republican Party should be ashamed. Their strategy of inciting anger and spreading hate - instead of offering ideas - is bad for our state, and the people of New Hampshire deserve better.
Cullen is right when he says that campaigning to the fringe of the Republican Party is no way to win elections. Unfortunately, his colleagues beg to differ. This type of mentality runs counter to New Hampshire values, and ultimately is the reason why the GOP will remain the minority party in 2010.
Mike Brunelle is a former state representative and the current executive director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Democrats deliver mop and a message to State Republican Party, call on Judd Gregg and John H. Sununu to help clean up the mess created by Republicans
Picking up on President Obama's call, the New Hampshire Democratic Party delivered a mop and a message to the New Hampshire Republican Party, asking them to help clean up the mess created by years of failed Republican leadership.
See the video here
Recognizing that we're all in this together, President Obama and the Democratic Party have been working hard to create jobs, ensure accessible and affordable insurance, and better secure the country. But these efforts have been met with Republican knee-jerk opposition and partisan obstruction to every new idea.
Last week, the President suggested that rather than simply saying "NO" to efforts to help put the country back on the right track, the GOP should "grab a mop" and help clean up the mess we're in to move the country forward.
"Not unlike Republicans at the national level, the only thing Judd Gregg, John H. Sununu, and the state Republican Party has offered are the failed policies of the past," said Mike Brunelle, executive director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
"Today, we delivered a mop to the New Hampshire Republican Party with the message that they should stop being the party of no and start helping clean up the mess they created," Brunelle continued. "As President Obama said, the Republicans need to grab a mop and let's all get to work."
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Below is a press release the NHDP issued today on Sununu's recent interview with Foster's Daily Democrat where he talks about Louis XIV.
Rip Van Sununu's 2010 Strategy: Taking a Page Out of Louis XIV's Playbook
Disgruntled former governor and state party chairman embraces angering the radical right
Foster's Daily Democrat provided further confirmation today that John "Rip Van" Sununu is living in the past and is completely disconnected with reality.
In an interview with the paper's editorial board, the Republican state committee chairman and former governor said the inspiration for the GOP's 2010 strategy is Louis XIV. The goal: to make the extreme right wing of the republican party as angry possible.
When asked if his strategy would backfire, Sununu actually said,
"You know, I think one of the last things Louis XIV kept telling his people was that the anger of the people will turn the people toward us."
"John H. Sununu has completely lost touch with reality," said Derek Richer press secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "You don't win elections by angering voters; you do it by offering ideas. At this point, all we've heard from John H. Sununu is that he hates New Hampshire."
Not only has John H. Sununu embraced this "Louis XIV" strategy, but many of the candidates he has recruited to run for office in 2010 have as well. In fact, the GOP's candidate for Governor, Jack Kimball, is a leader of the "Tea Party" protesters - a group that has been angrily disrupting town hall meetings across the state.
But John H. Sununu isn't just out of touch, he needs a history lesson. King Louis XIV is known for bankrupting the state of France, raising taxes, and oppressing the people.
"It's crazy that Sununu is talking about 18th century France instead of the challenges facing New Hampshire," continued Richer. "But then again, when he was governor, Sununu virtually bankrupted our state - just like Louis the XIV did in France. Under Sununu's watch, spending was completely out of control, taxes were increased, and our budget was left in deficit."
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Foster's ran an un-bylined story (apparently a press release from the Republican Party) to the effect that John H. Sununu is coming to Dover to recruit Republican candidates, this coming Monday evening (September 28). The very glamorous location will be a closed furniture store, Hoyt's on 2nd Street. This may be because Dover is now bereft of restaurants and coffee shops, thanks to the fact that the rooms and meals tax went up to 9%. (Oops: it turns out that Dover has just as many watering holes as it did before the tax went a little. In fact, a few new places have opened up.)
When FiveThirtyEight's Nat Silver writes about the National Republican Party, his words work just as well as a perfect description of my very favorite Zero-Population-Growth reject John Sununu the Elder:
Big Papi Sununu is nothing more than a grumpy, searching, direction-less, leadership-deficient, infighting naysayer offering no new ideas, too much feigned outrage, and opposition largely for opposition's sake - all as he steadily loses his grasp on the attentions and imaginations of New Hampshire voters...
Erstwhile Governor of New Hampshire, John "Rip Van" Sununu recently kicked off his "I hate New Hampshire" tour by publicly campaigning against our state. Like his son John E. Sununu, who lost his Senate seat last fall, "Rip Van" Sununu hasn't been in the halls of power in some time and he's not happy about it. Unhappy that his family is out of power and New Hampshire is thriving under Governor Lynch's leadership, "Rip Van" Sununu has been taking his anger out on the Granite State.
CONCORD - On one of the many stops of his "I hate New Hampshire" tour, John "Rip Van" Sununu sat down to an editorial board with the Concord Monitor and reportedly spent his time railing against the Granite State. Sununu claimed that the quality of life in New Hampshire had been diminished in recent years but didn't offer any empirical evidence to back up his assessment. Then, just days after Sununu's tirade against New Hampshire at the Monitor, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released its ranking of the best places to raise children and for the fourth time in five years our state was ranked number one. So, why is the former Governor so set on tearing down New Hampshire?
Since Sununu's time in the corner office, our state has flourished. Here are just a few examples of why it's great to live in the Granite State today:
* Personal income has more than doubled, from an average of $20,512 in 1990 to $41,512 in 2007
* Our state still has one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation
* Our population has grown significantly in the last decade, spurring tens of thousands of new home sales
* Our population is better educated, with nearly ten percent more Granite Staters holding bachelors degrees than they did in 1990
* Our environment has become a priority for our elected leaders, with a commitment to increase the use of renewable energy sources to 25 percent by 2025
* Our state has finally lived up to its "live free or die" motto, with the passage of marriage equality, strong anti-discrimination laws, and the repeal of anti-choice statutes
* Our state has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation
* Our state was once again named the best place to raise children
"Over the last two decades, New Hampshire has grown into a place where individual liberty and prosperity thrive. Just because his family is no longer running the show doesn't mean Mr. Sununu should spend his time tearing down our state. New Hampshire has changed in the last twenty years and its time that Mr. Sununu stop romanticizing the past and start appreciating all our state has to offer," said Victoria Bonney, Communications Director at the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
(Posted by Victoria Bonney, Communications Director at the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
In an interview with the Concord Monitor former Governor and New Hampshire Republican Party Chair John H Sununu outlined the Republican talking points for the upcoming election.
Sununu claims that Governor Lynch and legislative Democrats are harming the state's "special" character and leading it to financial "ruin":
That ruin, Sununu said, is visible in many places: in the decline in citizen participation in local affairs; in the $7 billion unfunded liability in the state retirement systems; in the decline in population growth. At the root of these problems, Sununu said, is the gradual shift in the way taxes are collected, with the statewide property tax swamping the town- and city-centered tax structure of past decades.
Okay, I can take this on before any morning caffeine:
Ex-U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu tells The Associated Press he will not run next year for the Senate seat being vacated by fellow New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg.
Sununu - who was defeated last year by Jeanne Shaheen - says he's busy working with several technology firms, a number of nonprofit organizations and as a member of the panel overseeing the government's bailout of the financial sector.
(If by "awfully weird" you mean "laughably untrue"... - promoted by Dean Barker)
An interview with GOP Chairman Sununu was front-page "news" in the Portsmouth Herald on Friday. It was a trip to fantasy-ville, with the ex-Governor using the word "radical" 4 times when referring to the legislature. That's right: no income tax, no sales tax, no cap gains tax, no estate tax. But they're still a bunch of radicals.
The interview was further evidence, also, that its recent purchase by Rupert Murdoch has not been a great thing for the Herald.
Here are a few of Sununu's bigger whoppers:
The state budget passed by the Legislature this week is a deliberate step by Democrats toward a state income tax.
Why? Cuz he said so, that's why! By way of "proof" he cites one member of the House "Appropriations and Ways and Means" committee who is pro-income tax. His staff needs to tell him that the committee dropped "Appropriations" from its name many years ago.
Passage of a same-sex marriage law is a kickback to "radical left groups" from out of state that funded Democrats' campaigns in 2006 and 2008....It was quid pro quo, said the GOP chairman, that the out-of-state, agenda-laden money went to the N.H. State Democratic Committee then to local Democratic candidates with the implicit expectation that a gay-marriage bill would be passed.
Got that, legislators? Your vote was purchased wholesale by out-of-staters, and you never knew! You thought you were voting in the great tradition of personal freedom we cherish here, and to end an obvious example of discrimination. I guess the joke's on you!
Sununu, Republicans Claim More Budget Cuts Are Needed But Still Can't Name a Single Cut
CONCORD - After weeks of calling for unspecified budget cuts that will likely result in sharp hikes to local property taxes, Republicans still can't say what they would cut from the budget.
Just this week, NHGOP Chairman John H. Sununu told a Derry News/Eagle Tribune editorial board that more budget cuts are needed but couldn't specify a single area of the budget he would cut. Apparently not much has changed with him: Sununu sent state spending skyward by 27.5 percent while governor in the 1980s.
In contrast, Democratic Leaders are proposing a budget that includes many reforms and cuts, including a reduction of the state's workforce by 5 percent, the closure of five districts courts and the Laconia prison, and the extension of the current freeze on hiring, travel and equipment purchases over the next two years.
Of course, John H. Sununu isn't the only Republican paying lip service to the budget process. Senate Minority Leader Peter Bragdon told the Union Leader that he doesn't know what's in the budget, let alone what he'd eliminate from it. House Minority Leader Sherm Packard authored an op-ed calling for cuts, but failed to identify a single line item, program or agency he would trim.
"With the bulk of our state budget dedicated to local aid one has to wonder if Republicans are talking about slashing assistance to cities and towns, which would result in the highest property tax increase in New Hampshire history. If Republicans really want to balance the budget on the backs of property owners they should at least be honest about it. It's time for Republicans to either name their cuts and be part of the process, or support the balanced budget plan proposed by Democrats," said NHDP Chairman Raymond Buckley.
(Posted by Victoria Bonney, Communications Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Republicans Still Can't Say How They Would to Trim Budget
CONCORD - For months, Republicans have called for cuts to the state budget but still can't name a specific area of the budget that needs trimming.
Today, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said enough is enough and again challenged Republican legislators to name their cuts or support the balanced budget proposal put forth by Democratic Leadership.
"If there is fat left in the state budget, Republican legislators should name it. Democratic Leaders have rolled up their sleeves and gone to work, cutting the budget line by line while Republicans have sat back and offered no solutions. It's time for Republicans to stop playing petty politics with our state finances and name their cuts," said NHDP Chairman Raymond Buckley.
With 2010 revenues projected lower than 2004 levels, Democrats have carefully scrutinized over the budget and outlined significant cuts to make up for the revenue shortfall. Their proposed cuts include:
· Reducing to the state's workforce by five percent
· Unfunding 200 state positions
· Extending the public employee hiring freeze for the next two years
· Eliminating a half dozen health and human service programs
· Freezes on travel and equipment purchases
· Closure of five district courthouses and the Laconia State Prison
Still, Republicans claim there is room to cut, but remain unwilling to name specific programs or areas to eliminate from the budget.
(Posted by Victoria Bonney, Communications Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Foster's Daily Democrat reported today that the NHGOP's former chairman, Fergus Cullen, is disappointed with John H. Sununu's leadership of the party. According to Foster's, while attending a RNC convention in Maryland, the elder Sununu made a concerted effort to divide the already weakened Republican Party by failing to show up and vote on resolutions.
Fergus Cullen, the former NHGOP Chairman said of Sununu's flagrant disrespect for the GOP:
"It is unfortunate that New Hampshire is one of the states undermining the chairman of the RNC and challenging his authority," he said. "Some members prefer to act like a college debating society and argue about silly resolutions than to build a majority coalition that can win elections."
Cullen went on to say Sununu's behavior could jeopardize the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary:
Cullen said national committee members should mostly worry about protecting the state's kick-off primary since getting "into fights with other members ... risks making enemies our state doesn't need."
"At a time when Republican voter registration has reached a 25-year low and national polls continue to show Democratic leaders enjoy widespread support, the GOP remains splintered because its party leaders, like John H. Sununu, have alienated moderates and moved their party dramatically to the right. Between the rise in GOP defectors and John H. Sununu's blatant absenteeism, it's clear that the Republican Party has a long way to go before it is out of the woods," said NHDP Communications Director Victoria Bonney.
(Posted by Victoria Bonney, Communications Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Yesterday State Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley called on NHGOP Chairman John H. Sununu and Republican Legislators to support an amendment to the marriage equality bill which would protect religious freedom. But today John H. Sununu took to the airwaves and told WGIR AM listeners that the amendment to provide additional religious protections is "trivial."
"The amendment to the marriage equality bill goes a long way to protect religious freedom, but John Sununu has chosen politics over the rights of religious organizations and has even gone so far as to call their rights "trivial." Do Republican leaders really want to be on record opposing protections for churches and clergy?" said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley.
During the course of the debate surrounding marriage equality John H. Sununu referred to the legislation as "radical" while polls conducted at the same time made clear that 55 percent of all New Hampshire residents and one third of Granite State Republicans support marriage equality. Now after amendments to the bill were introduced which would go even farther to protect the views of religious groups, Chairman Sununu and Senate Republicans remain opposed and out of step with the people of New Hampshire.
(Posted by Victoria Bonney, Communications Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
When John "Rip Van" Sununu was last involved in politics, New Hampshire's population was under a million people, Manchester Airport didn't offer flights to major American cities and the state's venerable weatherman Al Kaprielian had just made his debut. New Hampshire has changed in the last two decades, but John "Rip Van" Sununu apparently slept through the progress and remains stuck in the 1980's. From issues of individual liberty to responsible spending, John "Rip Van" Sununu is out of touch with the people of New Hampshire and his own party. The New Hampshire Democratic Party presents a hearty dose of John "Rip Van" Sununu's outdated positions on the issues.
With his party hemorrhaging public support and struggling to gain credibility, John "Rip Van" Sununu told the Nashua Telegraph that the NHGOP had been bested by Democrats because the NHGOP lacks credible candidates.
The Telegraph wrote:
In the editorial board interview, Sununu didn't reserve criticism solely for Democrats. He faulted his party for not offering "good candidates." He couldn't name any rising stars who can reverse the state GOP's slide, but said they would "come out of the process."
"At time when research has shown that New Hampshire has undergone significant demographic changes which favor the Democratic majority and polls have shown that New Hampshire residents overwhelming support the Democratic leadership on the state and national level, John Sununu is driving people out of his party, declaring GOP candidates weak and unfit to face Democratic opponents. I guess all we can say is thank you for your support, Mr. Chairman," said NHDP Communications Director Victoria Bonney.
Students of Freud are familiar with his theories on personality development, specifically the stages through which children evolve. We've all heard about the 'id', the 'ego' and 'libido'. Freud further describes stages of development that we all go through: the oral, the anal, the genital and the latent stage.
Freud asserts that if the child successfully completes all stages of personality development, the result will be a healthy and balanced adult. If, on the other hand, certain childhood issues are not resolved, the adult will be obsessed with specific areas of behavior. Those who do not resolve 'oral' issues, for example, may become fixated on smoking, drinking or over-eating.
Individuals who have difficulties with the 'anal' stage of development become fixated on bowel and bladder movements. They become focused on toilet and elimination issues and may have problems with excretory control. An anal-retentive or anal-explosive personality may be the result of this thwarted development.
The recent NH GOP's obsession with bathroom and toileting matters may best be explained by reference to Freud's theories. This seems the clearest explanation for the party's obsessive behavior.
A new American Research Group poll in New Hampshire finds Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) leads former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), 42% to 36% among registered voters in a possible 2010 U.S. Senate match-up.
Among independents, Hodes leads Sununu 38% to 31%.
H/T Teagan Goddard's Political Wire
Go Paul, Go!
That Independent # is a killer for the Republican Nominee. It will be interesting watch that over the coming months... could it keep a respectable Nominee out of the race?
(Who will oversee the overseer? - promoted by Dean Barker)
As you may remember, John E. Sununu sits on the Congressional Oversight Panel that monitors the TARP funds, but was recently named to the board of a firm that's a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon, which both received TARP money and administers the program for the Treasury Department. According to Talking Points Memo, not all of John E.'s colleagues agree that serving on the TARP oversight board, while also serving on the board of a company subject to TARP oversight, is just ducky:
Shannan Guinn, a spokeswoman for the COP, repeatedly declined to offer a direct answer when asked by TPMmuckraker whether any other members had expressed concern about Sununu's conflict.
By her own admission choosing her words carefully, Guinn told us:
Mr. Sununu has told the panel that he's a board member of ConvergEx, and he's discussed it with each of the panel members individually....Mr. Sununu doesn't believe that there's a conflict, and the statute itself doesn't allow the panel to make decisions on its own makeup.
But asked twice by TPMmuckraker whether panel members had expressed concern, Guinn declined to say, eventually instructing us to ask Sununu. (He didn't respond to our earlier efforts to reach him.)
John H Sununu made his now-famous quips about the fraudulent nature of global climate change at a recent conference hosted by a group called the Heartland Institute. That got my attention, because I know these guys. The Heartland Institute is an extreme right-wing lobbying operation whose self-proclaimed mission is "to promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems". It does this by sending five "news" magazines to every state legislator in the country that cover topics like health-care, tax policies, and environmental issues, all from their rather unique perspective. Anyone who has ever been a NH legislator has been cursed to receive one or more of these "news" magazines every week. To read one is to take a step into an Alice-in-Wonderland world where all action by business is good and beneficial and all government actions are destructive. Where business leaders act with pure hearts to help mankind, but are thwarted at every turn by politicians who are either ignorant, or venal, or both.
You would think in this time of stunning market failures around the world, the Heartland folks might want to be keeping a little quieter. But that is not the way they operate. They will cheerfully tell you the current economic problem is not too little government regulation, but too much, and that this has distorted the market and caused the recession, among other ills. They use this same facts-be-damned attitude when analyzing climate change. They know what the answer- global warming is just a natural cycle. The problem as they see it is to find a few people who agree with them and promote them to the world as a responsible alternative.
As one would expect, the group will not say who funds its operations, but its founders include the founder of the John Birch Society and the major funder of the libertarian Cato Institute. Exxon and other oil companies are big supporters as well.
It's not uncommon for companies who want help to advance their business agendas to turn to think tanks like the Heartland Institute. In addition to providing the appearance of independent support for corporate policies, the institute presents a scholarly image and as an extra benefit knows how to play the media game well. Their goal in this is to create just enough doubt about climate change that policy makers will hesitate to take the hard decisions needed to deal with the issue.
Back to Dr. Sununu. For a leader of one of the two political parties in our state to speak to the collection of free-market cultists, science-deniers, and other assorted kooks who gathered for the Heartland Institute's conference is a little stunning. It would be like Ray Buckley addressing the Flat Earth Society about the folly of Cartesian cartography or Howard Dean talking to the American Nazi Party and denying the Holocaust. Shouldn't there be consequences for this kind of misbehavior, at least to Sununu's reputation? It may not be an issue among members of his party, who regularly deny facts if they contradict their political dogmas, but people in the general community ought to care that one of the two choices for which organization will direct important public policies in our state is headed by a guy who has some very eccentric views.
