The signup period for statewide offices here in the Granite State begins this week. As one looks towards November, the realistic outlook is not good for Republicans. While I don’t disagree that there are certain bright spots– the six quality candidates seeking the respective nomination for US House seats in both of our state’s congressional districts being of note– the overall picture is not rosy. While some might look at this as being purely partisan a sentiment, you should know that I am not coming from that point of view. The local Republicans certainly know that I am a conservative that looks for good, sensible government first, BEFORE I worry about party affiliation.
That being said, my concern for the state of New Hampshire in the upcoming election goes way beyond simply wishing to see Republicans in power. My fear is that we are at a point in time where if we continue on the present course as charted, the New Hampshire Advantage that I CHOSE to avail myself of when I left my native RI will be once and for all destroyed. Low taxes, less government intrusion, and more personal liberty are possessions to be cherished and prized behind only God and family and are fragile in the sense that, once lost, we’ll never recover them.
If we allow the present majority, led by Governor Lynch (aka "Governor Do-Nuthing") another bite at the apple, all will be lost. The spending will drive the state over the tipping point. Beleaguered taxpayers will beg for relief, and will most probably find it in the form of new, broad-based taxes before they even realize what hit them– just like how we got civil unions shortly following the change of leadership and majority after the last election.
My point is, we can’t let the final fatal blow happen. We need a leader that can step up and get the citizens and voters that still care about our state fired up enough to be motivated to get out and vote. Let’s face it, with the prevailing "conventional wisdom" of a Democrat win touted by most in the mainstream media influencing people less acquainted with the actual facts, it’s going to take a monumental effort to prevent it from becoming the reality. If this indeed happens with the present Democrat led majority in the state legislature upheld, I don’t want Governor Lynch in the Corner Office, lest he "forget" to use his veto pen. And then what?
The only way this can happen is to nominate a credible and reasonably well-known candidate that actually can win. While I say this with all due respect to past and present probable Republican seekers of the position, we don’t need– and cannot accept– another "disposable" candidate as our nominee. And that candidate has only one issue available that can possibly carry the day: preserving the Advantage by reigning in spending… NOW!
Quick, name a leading Republican leading the charge both in word and deed in the area of spending? Who has repeatedly stuck his neck out for the conservative approach to governing, resulting in certifiable ballot box success, even in the present climate? You know who I’m talking about.
Last November, writing here at the ‘Grok of REPUBLICAN Frank Guinta’s Manchester Mayoral win– a rare positive event in the midst of a GOP electoral disaster– Ed Mosca noted:
He’s done it again. For the second time in a row, Frank Guinta –that would be Republican Frank Guinta—has been elected Manchester’s mayor. And, once again, he defeated a well-financed, articulate Democrat who was backed by the fearsome John Lynch.
But wait. How can this have happened when just one year ago Republicans in New Hampshire got their butts kicked worse than the Colorado Rockies? Everyone knows that New Hampshire has been turned into Blue Hampshire by immigrating hordes of quiche-slurping, latte-chugging, hybrid-driving, tree-hugging, all-we-are-saying-is-give-peace-a-chance liberals. And it is also common knowledge that the Lynch political machine doesn’t lose.Undeniably, there are some significant differences between the 2007 and 2006 elections. Issues that drove voters to punish Republicans in 2006 no longer resonate as strongly. The surge has produced some positive results, while the Democrat Congress has been a grave disappointment. Also, there was no John Lynch at the top of the ticket.
But if the 2006 state elections were only about Iraq, the Republican Congress and Lynch’s coattails, that’s because Republicans running for state offices didn’t give the voters anything else to think about. And that is why they were big losers. Guinta, on the other hand, has seized an issue that resonates with the voters, which is why he is a winner.
The centerpiece of both of Guinta’s mayoral campaigns has been cutting taxes. He is a two-time winner because the voters want tax relief and he has provided it. But hey don’t just take my word for it, take the words of the Manchester Democrats. The same Democrat aldermen who opposed Guinta’s tax cut were taking credit for it at election time. And while former Mayor Baines liked to crow that the voters wanted higher taxes because they recognized that he could spend their money more wisely than they could, the city Democrats were singing a completely different tune this election.When, on the other hand, was the last time that you heard Republicans even talk about cutting state taxes? Guinta is a winner because he gave the voters a reason to vote for the Republican. Republican state office-seekers in 2006 were big losers because they didn’t.
If preserving the New Hampshire Advantage isn’t a good reason to vote Republican, I don’t know what is.
Ed’s piece closed
What Guinta’s success shows is that what matters most to the voters is lower taxes. Unless Republicans want New Hampshire to remain Blue Hampshire, they would be well advised to borrow Guinta’s playbook for 2008. Stop droning on about constitutional amendments and make cutting taxes the focus of the 2008 state elections.
Amen!
Since that time, Guinta hasn’t given up the fight. As we previously (and happily) reported here and here, as Mayor of Manchester, he has fought a valiant– and visible– fight on behalf of taxpayers. I have long held that too many people have a disconnect when it comes to spending and taxes. Guinta has shown the ability to re-couple the "spending = taxes" argument once taken for granted by a large majority of Granite Staters.
He also has that important quality any political aspirant must possess in the mass media age we live: name recognition.
Given all the pros for a Guinta run NOW– not in a few years from now when it’s too late– I am openly pleading with Mayor Guinta to reconsider his decision not to seek the Governor’s chair.
As reported in this May 21 posting, at the recent unveiling of the new pledge to preserve the NH Advantage, Mayor Guinta said this:
"After watching the last year and a half of this legislature and governor spending a half a billion dollars in new spending, we have to stand up for those families, for those taxpayers, and for everyday members of our communities that cannot afford, cannot accept those policies and those positions currently taken by the majority here in New Hampshire."
"Elected officials are not here to fleece the taxpayers. They are here to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money."
"What we’ve seen for the last year and a half is the fleecing of the taxpayers of New Hampshire. It’s not right, we shouldn’t stand for it, and we are coalescing a group of individuals in this state who are going to stand up for individuals who believe in limited government; who believe in effective management of our resources; the utilization of those resources, and believe in government efficiency."
To the pledge itself, Guinta stated, "If you’re going to serve the people of New Hampshire– Republican, Independent, or Democrat, you ought to take the pledge that you’re not going to spend any more money than is required. It’s very reasonable to say no to spending over the average CPI plus the population growth. It’s a standard we all should live by. If you can’t do that," he plainly said, "I don’t think personally you ought to be elected."
Just imagine what this guy could do as our standard-bearer here in New Hampshire. Coupled with a strong McCain showing, and perhaps the addition of some as yet unknown liberty-loving, tax cutting conservatives that can articulate the message, could the present New Hampshire majority, along with Governor Lynch, really get sent packing come November?
If not Mayor Guinta, who?
by Doug Lambert. June 2, 2008
