Fergus Cullen - Moocher

Former Chair of the NH Republican Party Fergus Cullen lives in Dover. He ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2013. One of the policies he mentioned his support for in interviews was Dover's tax cap, as we see here in Fosters:

After gaining political experience at the state and national levels, Cullen said he now wants to focus on making Dover a more attractive place for people to live. Cullen said he is supportive of the current City Council, which he said has been successful in adopting two consecutive budgets consistent with the tax cap, “putting a stop to runaway spending and tax hikes.”

“The sky did not fall,” Cullen said. “The tax cap is basically working. I'm supportive of that change. It was a long time coming.”

Cullen said it is possible to oppose higher taxes while at the same time supporting city services. He said that things have “settled down” for now, and that the city should continue to look for ways to “live within our means.” 

Tonight, Fergus has Jeb Bush coming to his house: 

Local Republicans are ready: So many people are expected to attend political consultant Fergus Cullen's evening house party for Bush that the city manager of Dover sent a bucket loader to move snow so that more cars can park in the neighborhood.

This is Fergus's idea of how to "live within our means?" This is mooching off taxpayers. That public funds are being used to clear snow for a private party for Jeb Bush makes it just that much more offensive. 

NH GOP: Winning over the Women!

Hot on the heels of the former NH GOP Chair referring to US Senator Jeanne Shaheen as Betty Crocker, the new NH GOP executive director, Matt Mowers, tweeted out a bunch of petty nonsense about sports. 

If his goal was to make Senator Shaheen look bad, he failed. If his goal was to make the NH GOP continue to look like the party of puerile sexists, he's succeeded quite handily! 

A stroll through some of the recent NH GOP sexist hit parade:

Peter Hansen

Jordan Ulery/Gary Hopper

Slap Hillary

Mark Warden

William Infantine

Dave Ridley

John Burt

Gary Hopper

Fergus Cullen Grunts From his Cave

Republican men can't seem to speak about women without sounding as if they're grunting from inside Stone Age caves. 

From the You've Got to Be Shitting Me Files: Fergus Cullen in the Union Leader, writing about Senator Jeanne Shaheen:

It has been Shaheen’s ability to peel off Republican women that saved her in close races in the past. Some of these voters were political moderates who were uncomfortable with socially conservative Republican nominees. Others were attracted to Shaheen the political pioneer. Either way, the result was a string of conventional male opponents frustrated by the difficulty of having to run against Betty Crocker.

Betty Crocker? In 2014? 

Jeanne Shaheen served 2 terms in the NH State Senate. She served 3 terms as Governor of NH. She ran for the US Senate in 2002, but lost to successful phone jamming candidate John E. Sununu, Jr. Her consolation prize? Serving as the Director of the Harvard Institute of Politics. In 2008 she beat Jammin'John Jr. and became our first female US Senator. This is the record of a successful and accomplished woman. 

It seems the best the GOP can do is attempt to  tear down the record of a successful and accomplished woman by comparing her to Betty Crocker. In 2014?  For real? 

 Fergus wasn't smart enough to be stupid only once:

The first couple times, Betty Crocker’s cake mix is great. But after a while, it’s just another box on the shelf and you’re ready to try something else.

This is why women run from the Republican Party. 

Is Fergus such an utter dickhead that he really thinks that  belittling an accomplished US Senator in this manner will send all the "girls" running to Scott Brown? Scott Brown, the candidate who has secret meetings with kings and queens? The guy who can't seem to decide what state's shelf should host his box? The guy who doesn't know he was born in Maine? 

It's flabbergasting that in 2014, we're even hearing this kind of regressive 1950's dialogue from the GOP. In 1972  the Republicans had passing the ERA listed as a goal in their party platform. 

Women comprise a little over half of the population. If the NH Republican Party has any intention of attracting female voters, they might want to rethink the mastodon strategy. 



Or, as  Ta-Nehisi Coates put it: To Stop Being the Party of Stupid You Must Stop Being Stupid

Elections and Eulogies

New Hampshire cities had municipal elections last week. After the Great Bearcat Media Event in Concord, a number of Free Staters decided to run for the City Council. Given that the Bearcat was a done deal, running on the anti-Bearcat platform wasn’t the best strategy. Most revealed a woeful ignorance of what the job entailed. They all lost.

City and town elections should be nonpartisan – they should be about electing the best person for the job. The key word there is “should.” We all know that partisan politics and ideology sometimes creep in. Former state Republican Party Chairperson, Fergus Cullen, ran for the Dover City Council. Despite billing himself as a humble small businessman (he failed to disclose that he’s the executive director of a far right think tank in Connecticut) he lost. Badly. Cullen has written about the dangers inherent in what the NH Republican Party has become, and now he’s experienced what he predicted.

In addition to the municipal elections, Nashua had a special election in Ward 8 for a state representative. It was an ugly business. Republican Peter Silva (former House Majority leader) had some unattractive things to say about his opposing candidate, Latha Mangipudi. Speaking to the Nashua City Republican Committee, Silva remarked that upon coming out of the polls on primary day, “I thought I was in New Delhi,” referring to the large turnout of Indian American voters. He told his fellow Republicans  “they’d be coming out of the woodwork” to vote for Mangipudi. That effort to rebrand the GOP to be friendlier to women and minorities sure is coming along nicely. Silva refused to apologize, whined about political correctness, and generally dug himself a deeper hole every time he opened his mouth. He lost.

That wasn’t the end of the ugliness in Ward 8. Inside the polling place, Karen Thoman, Secretary of the City Republican Committee was videotaping voters. Apparently she had permission from the City Clerk, who ran it by unnamed “state officials.” (One hopes that this is being investigated.) As one would expect, there was some backlash from angry voters. At least one called her a Nazi. She piously defended herself by stating that she didn’t videotape children. She has standards!  That this videotaping took place ONLY in Ward 8 underscores the sheer nastiness of this special election. The day will come when Republicans want minority votes. (HINT: this isn’t the way to get them.) This kind of conduct only serves to continue the erosion of confidence in our electoral system.

Alcoa stock prices have been on the rise this week, thanks to former state GOP Chairman Jack Kimball. Kimball sent out an email to 50 of his pals warning them that the UN was invading NH. Apparently his daughter saw a convoy of about 50 trucks on the highway. From the email: “It consisted of a wide range of military vehicles, many of them white and nondescript and unmarked." He said they later saw another group of around 10 to 12 18-wheelers, also nondescript and driven by military personnel,” Kimball told the Portsmouth Patch, “We’re on the watch for stuff like this.” The fact that white UN trucks have UN painted on them in big black letters was lost on Mr. Kimball. Turns out, those frightening white trucks belonged to medics from NH, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island National Guard units, who had been in Maine conducting training exercises. Ooops. Jack had to send out a retraction to his followers.

Kimball also told Patch, "We're all concerned about what's going on with Obama. We've all been talking about what's happening. We've got Chinese troops arriving in Hawaii... and Kansas. There’s a lot of things going on that are very suspicious. There are a lot of people that are very vigilant.

“We” appears to be Kimball’s fellow members of the shiny haberdashery club. Some cursory research reveals that the Chinese troops in Hawaii are there taking part in disaster relief exercises. They’re simulating post-earthquake relief operations. This sort of exchange is an annual exercise that is part of a security cooperation agreement established in 1998. I can find no reputable sources confirming the invasion of Kansas by Chinese troops. Perhaps they’re sneaking in, undercover, in UN trucks.

In other news, NH has lot a couple of the good guys to cancer in the last 2 weeks. Marty Capodice died at home in Concord. Marty was a retired research analyst with the NH Employment Security Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. He was also a long time house manager at the Capital Center for the Arts. Marty was married to Arnie Arnesen, who can be heard discussing national politics and events on radio in at least 4 states. Marty was a truly happy man – he loved his family, his friends, and his community. He could convince even the most Eeyore amongst us (me) that they could do anything, give them a bear hug, and send them on their way, feeling as if maybe Marty was right. A big loss.

District 1 Executive Councilor Ray Burton died this week. Ray served the North Country in that capacity for 35 years. Since the council districts are based on population, Ray’s district covered 2/3 of the state. It’s a stupidly huge district, but Ray managed to be everywhere at once, handing out combs and remembering the names and faces of everyone he ever met. Ray was a staunch advocate for the oft-forgotten northern part of our state. He was a Republican, but not an ideologue, and he always returned my phone calls. It has also been mildly amusing to watch all of the people who were howling for his resignation 8 years ago offering up accolades now that he’s gone. As a tribute to Ray, I hope we can all agree that no one else can do what he did. District One should be divided into at least 2 parts. Ray had decades to figure it out, something the next person will not. Creating 2 manageable districts would keep the Council at an odd number (no tie votes), and ensure quality representation for the biggest part of the state.

Former NH GOP State Chair Loses BIG in Dover

Former NH GOP State Chairman, Fergus Cullen, ran for an At-Large City Council seat in Dover, where he used some creativity in  filling out his candidate questionnaire.  It didn't help.

He lost. By a LOT.

Pulling the Small Business Wool Over Voter's Eyes

Fergus Cullen was the Chair of the NH Republican Party from 2007 - 2008. He's managed campaigns, he's a paid columnist at the Union Leader, and now he's running for an at-large seat on the Dover City Council. This is his candidate biography:

The Fergus of 2007 had a house painting business. He was indeed a small business owner. The Fergus of 2013 left the painting biz a long time ago, but kept the claim of being a small businessman. 
Does a guy who is the Executive Director of a think tank in Connecticut (something he failed to mention in his bio) really qualify as a small businessman? The Yankee Institute of Public Policy  is a far right think tank, chummy with the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. 

Perhaps Mr. Cullen wants us to consider his consulting business as small, even though it operates in two states:

Fergus Cullen Communications
152 Boxwood Lane, Dover, NH 03820
133 Allen Place, Hartford, CT 06106

Let us take just a moment to enjoy the GOP mindset. They love to rail against the "east coast elites" and their commie Ivy League colleges - yet so many of them attended those very same schools. Can that be what this is all about? Is Fergus trying to rid himself of the taint of poison Ivy by pretending to be a small business man o'the people?  It's true that the Yankee Institute of Public policy isn't doing well. Their funding was down by about $100,000 last year. They list 4 employees on their tax return - and maybe that's what Fergus is using to create the fiction - but a small business is not the same as a non-profit. Business, by definition is FOR profit. 

So, why the fiction, Fergus? 

Cry Me a River

In a recent Union Leader opinion piece, former NH GOP Chair Fergus Cullen bemoaned the takeover of his party by  “Tea Partiers, Ron Paul apostles, and fringe figures.” These are the same people that won in 2010, victories Cullen cheered about. The NH GOP threw open the doors to the Tea Partiers, Ron Paul apostles, Free Staters, John Birchers, and wearers of tinfoil berets. They boasted about their great electoral accomplishment. They elected Jack Kimball, a bombastic, bellicose tea tyrant, to be their state party chair.

And soon it all fell apart. That great GOP majority proved to be comprised of inept bumblers and outright lunatics. There was the guy who had to resign for saying that people with disabilities should be sent to Siberia to freeze to death. There were the guys who wrote the bill to include relevant quotes from the Magna Carta in each new piece of NH legislation. There was the Free Stater who wanted to put warning signs up at the NH border. Let us not forget Speaker O’Brien. The list of his follies is long, and includes closing the House gallery to members of the public, and refusing to allow a reporter from a newspaper that had been critical of him into a press conference. This is but a thumbnail sketch of the results of that great majority that the NH GOP crowed about. When Fergus cries his bitter tears about how his party has been taken over by the lunatic fringe, he’d better cry me an entire river. The NH GOP not only allowed this to happen, they welcomed these people. Only now, when they have no chance of winning much of anything in the next election does Fergus get out the crying towel.

The old guard NHGOP must have been absolutely petrified when O’Brien announced he was considering a run against Ann Kuster in the second Congressional District. Poor Obie was not able to raise much money, possibly because he has all of the charm and charisma of a garden slug. He decided (or the party higher ups did) that he’d better drop out. This week, former State Senator Gary Lambert announced he’d be running for that seat. Lambert doesn’t have much name recognition outside of the Nashua area, and his brand of conservatism isn’t likely to be popular in the more liberal of NH’s congressional districts. He’s opposed to marriage equality and does not believe that women are autonomous, equal human beings. At his campaign launch, he said, “Republican ideas work. We’ve proven how they work in New Hampshire.” We have indeed seen how those Republican ideas work in NH. Every day we see our crumbling infrastructure, the death of our manufacturing base, and our high, high property taxes.

In the first Congressional District, Frank Guinta is making noises about a rematch against Carol Shea-Porter. Frank, a Tea Partier who rode the red wave in 2010 would be facing the same questions and ridicule he was ignoring when he was voted out in 2012. He ran on a huff of indignation over Shea-Porters alleged overuse of the House franking system. Frank was outraged about franking! He practically accused Shea-Porter of electioneering. Then, once in office, he became the number one Congressional abuser of the franking privilege, spending double what Shea-Porter had spent during her term.

Then there’s the matter of Frank’s magic bank account. He loaned his first campaign $355,000 that he didn’t have, according to his original financial disclosure forms. He later amended the forms, saying he forgot about a bank account with $250,000 in it. Well, of course he did. Who among us hasn’t forgotten about a quarter of a million dollars? Why it could happen to anyone.  

The Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) put Guinta on their 2011 “most corrupt members of Congress” list, which is something of an accomplishment for a freshman legislator. Frank doesn’t just have baggage - he has shipping containers. This time he’ll not only be running against Carol, he’ll be running against himself.

If Guinta doesn’t run, State Representative Pamela Tucker is considering running for that Congressional seat. Tucker was former Speaker O’Brien’s deputy Speaker, and one of his trusted lieutenants. That would be her biggest claim to fame in a district where she has no name recognition.

Rep. George Lambert, a NH native allied with the Free State Project, is exploring a run for governor. He’s definitely part of the “Ron Paul apostle, fringe figure” types that Fergus Cullen is now bemoaning. So far, he’s the only one. He’s another “candidate” with zero name recognition. Where are the candidates with even an iota of gravitas or name recognition? I saw a discussion online among Republicans where Craig Benson’s name was being bandied about as a potential gubernatorial candidate. That’s a subterranean level of desperation right there.

The NH GOP is in disarray, and they have no one but themselves to blame. They not only invited these folks to join them, they allowed them to take over.  To paraphrase the old maxim: “If you lie down with clowns, you will rise with rubber noses.”


© sbruce 2013  
published as a bi-weekly column in the Conway Daily Sun newspaper