GraniteGrok

Mayor Frank Guinta (GG file photo)

Quick, name a leading NH 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.

Except when true conservative Republicans, able to articulate the message, backed up with a verifiable track record, step up to the plate. Then, well, as noted by Ed, they win... despite conventional wisdom. Could it translate into a successful gubernatorial run? Perhaps.

From today's NH Sunday News "City Hall" column by Scott Brooks:

Mayor Frank Guinta will run for higher office.

Don't take our word for it. Take his.

"You know, I'm not sure exactly where my political future will take me," Guinta said in a Nov. 8 podcast [click on Hour Two] on the conservative blog, GraniteGrok.com. "But I've said in the past, and I'll say it in the future, that I am eager and willing to serve the people in this state.

"It's a wonderful place to live. But there are a lot of value systems that we have to protect. So as I talk to people in New Hampshire, I'll get a feel for how they would like me to continue to serve, and I'll certainly take them up on their offer when the time is right."

Guinta has made no bones about his political ambitions, having flirted with a run for governor early this year. He backed out of the race in March, but told reporters, "When the time is right, you will probably see my name on the ballot for something else."

Recently, the mayor has taken some small steps to increase his profile outside of the Queen City.

His political action committee, dormant for the first seven months of this year, suddenly became active in the fall. The PAC gave out $1,000 to Republican state Senate candidates (half of that went to District 18 hopeful Doug Kruse), and as of the last filing on Oct. 29 it was still holding onto another $9,000.

Then there's the half-hour interview he gave to "Meet the New Press," the podcast and AM-radio show led by Gilford Republicans Doug Lambert and Skip Murphy. Speaking just four days after Election Day, the mayor boasted of his budget-slashing ways and offered himself as proof that Republican candidates can still run on their records in New Hampshire, even when the tide is going the Democrats' way.

"I am a Republican mayor serving my second term in a Democrat city," Guinta said. "The things I've talked about are core, in my opinion, values, not just of the Republican Party, but of largely the people in New Hampshire."

He said the Republican brand, damaged under the Bush administration, can be repaired.

"But we have to have candidates that are going to do what they say," he said. "I'm one of the only people in the state that actually presents budgets at a municipal level or a state level that have actually been cutting spending. And that message has resonated with people."

We made no bones about it. We wished he had run this year, and yes, we still hope he'll go for it in 2010-- Hopefully there'll still be a New Hampshire to be salvaged then...