September 12 is the NH state primary election. Primaries in non-presidential election years are sorry affairs, with a small percentage of our state’s registered voters turning out.
Why bother? The most compelling reason to vote is because you can. So far, we still have the right to vote. Big Brother may be listening in on our phone conversations, monitoring our library book choices, and messing with our hard drives – but we can still vote. In the 2006 legislative session a bill was passed stating that NH voters would always have paper ballots for every election. Unlike Ohio, Florida, and other states with the now infamous and easily hacked touch screen voting machines where votes are counted in secret by machine company employees – we vote on paper, and those votes are counted in public. We know our votes count. The very act of voting can help protect our rights, including our right to vote.
The people of NH are tired of hearing the same promises from the same politicians every single year while nothing changes. NH still has education funding problems. The statewide property tax is driving people out of homes that have been in their families for generations. The Republican Party has had control of the NH House since the Civil War. It’s becoming obvious to many people that a one party system isn’t working. There is little reaching across the aisle to do what’s best for the state – there is just the constant drone of the GOP mantras. If you were at the Five Minute Candidate Forum at the Gibson Center, recently – you heard the drone. Mr. Coburn, the GOP gubernatorial sacrifice said he was “against an income tax and a sales tax. NH doesn’t have a tax problem, we have a spending problem.” How many times have you heard that before?
We have the same problems that have been plaguing us for decades. As long as we keep sending the same legislators back to deal with those problems, we’ll continue to have the same results. NH badly needs some fresh faces, fresh brains, and fresh ideas, from people who are willing to think outside the box, and work together for the best interest of the NH people. It’s time for change, and this is the year to make it happen. We have more choices on the ballot this year than ever before.
The NH Senate has become a place where little is accomplished. Bills seem to go there to die. Thanks to the gerrymandering in the northern district, it will be nearly impossible to replace John Gallus. Fortunately in District 3, voters have a real choice in voting out ineffective GOP rubber stamper Joe Kenney. Senator Kenney voted for SB110, the bill that allowed insurance companies to discriminate against residents on the basis of geography. Small businesses in the north country saw increases of up to 150 percent in their premiums. It was a disaster. Two years later, Senator Kenney voted against SB125, which was a repeal of SB110. Senator Kenney also voted for HB90, the bill that eliminated local control from the town of Tamworth, in the matter of the proposed racetrack. In 2004, Kenney received a $750 campaign contribution from the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America, of Washington, DC. This is the drug industry’s biggest lobbying firm. On the reporting form Kenney turned in, their business is listed as “Medicare.” One wonders, why a Washington lobbying firm is interested in a rural state senator. One also wonders why in the world we want a state senator who is being funded by Washington, DC special interest groups. We have a choice. George Cleveland is willing to work for solutions, not special interests.
Our federal delegation suffers from the same one-party, one mindset syndrome. Our Congressional delegation is badly out of step with our state. The state legislature voted down a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have banned both marriage equality, and the recognizing of same gender marriages legal in other states. Congressman Jeb Bradley distinguished himself by being the only member of the entire federal delegation from New England who voted in favor of amending the US Constitution in the same way. There were 16 anti-immigrant bills before the state legislature this year. None of them went anywhere. Meanwhile, our federal legislators continue to debate the merits of building a wall and all manner of punitive measures that don’t actually address the realities of the problems or the solutions. Jeb Bradley is proud of having voted for the REAL ID Act, which will give us all national ID cards, with our personal information in a national database. The NH House voted in favor of not complying with REAL ID. Sadly, that defiance broke down in the state senate. Our federal legislators are out of touch with the people of our state.
The second compelling reason to vote in this year’s primary is the Congressional race. There are 4 Democrats challenging incumbent Jeb Bradley. State Representative Jim Craig and Carol Shea Porter are the front runners in the primary race. Craig is the NH House minority leader, and the choice of the Democratic Congressional Candidate Committee. The DCCC endorsed him early on, bringing the wrath of those who felt it would be appropriate for them to wait until AFTER the primary – instead of making the choice for NH voters. Carol Shea Porter has a small army of grassroots supporters. She may not be able to afford TV ads, but she has been all over the district talking and listening to people. Jim Craig is a good state legislator, but he’s not national material. He’s even less dynamic than Bradley, and he’s a terrible public speaker. At a candidate’s forum in Sandwich, he referred to Sandwich as “Podunk.” He’s from Manchester, and like many from the south, seems to think the state ends at Exit 15 on 93. Shea Porter, on the other hand, is from Rochester. She’s familiar with the north country. As she proved in Sandwich, she’s a strong speaker who can think on her feet. Congressman Bradley went to New Orleans on a Congressional tour. Ms. Shea Porter has been their twice, volunteering her time. That’s the difference, folks. Jeb Bradley is a man of wealth and privilege who has no experience with the lives of real people. Carol Shea Porter is a real person. This week, Carol has been endorsed by the Portsmouth Herald and the Concord Monitor. Big money should not decide our elections. A vote for Carol Shea Porter will guarantee a spirited congressional campaign, something all voters will benefit from.
“A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there’s no question about it.” President George W. Bush
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