Ovide for Senate, who's on board? - Granite Grok

Ovide for Senate, who’s on board?

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This has been quite the week for Ovide Lamontagne, candidate for US Senate.

First, Joseph McQuaid, publisher of the Manchester Union Leader, endorsed him, which isn’t your average endorsement around these parts.  Mr. McQuaid acknowledged that Ovide isn’t the "richest candidate", and that he isn’t the "favorite of the…Washington crowd", but "what he believes makes sense to save our nation from economic ruin". 

In this economy and political climate, what else is there to say?

Then, all sorts of positive vibes started coming his way, on blogs and many other outlets…

Salon.com included him in an indignant analysis of how the Tea Party is setting the GOP up for a fall, in the Fall.  This wasn’t necessarily a positive article, but their analysis telegraphs their fear of the surging Conservative movement.  The Atlantic, not exactly the National Review, featured a short article, highlighting Ovide’s "metamorphosis", and his "healthy number of outsider credentials".  Then, this entry popped up on RedState, apparently written by a non-New Hampshire resident.  Not a bad spotlight-effect, resulting from the Union Leader’s praise.

Add to this the very article you are reading, former NH Senator Greg Lovejoy’s June endorsement, NH Senate Minority Leader Peter Bragdon’s endorsement, former US and NH Senator (and NH political demi-God) Gordon Humphrey’s July endorsement, former VP Dan Quayle’s January 2010 endorsement, and Conservative TV and radio host Laurah Ingraham’s prophetic Dec 2009 endorsement. 

Did I miss anything?  Oh yeah, the GraniteGrok endorsed Ovide as well.  A long time ago.

This is what happens when you put out a solid "15 point plan" in the very early days of the campaign.  That creative, intelligent effort is now paying dividends, when most of your competition, with their DC and self-funded war chests, are slugging it out in the corner.

Sparks like this happen – they happen to the best candidates, very close to the election – and they catch fire.  They are helped along by opposing energies.  Ovide has been wise to plod along, keeping out of the Ayotte-Binnie fray (partly due to his lack of mass-market funding, mostly due to his character – he’s just not a mud-slinger). 

Looking back in time, the same thing happened to Ovide’s political benefactor, once liberal-turned-conservative, Gordon Humphrey.

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Humphrey ran for US Senate in 1978.  Never having held office, and with very little money, he beat 16-year Senate incumbent Thomas J. McIntyre by only a few percentage points.  Humphrey’s campaign was a grassroots, hand-shaking effort, run without the support of the Republican party.  He spent the years prior as an active Conservative, drumming up participation  (funny how someone with NO previous legislative experience can be SO successful).  Humphrey won his primary, doubling his nearest Republican challenger.  In the general election, he exploited the wave of Conservative resurgence that was underfoot, at the mid-term of a whimpering Carter administration, in an economy with substantial unemployment and inflation.

Sound familiar?  It’s spooky…

Humphrey’s victory was considered a major upset and surprised many.  McIntyre’s loss to Humphrey, by only 2.2%, was attributed to a few things, according to his 1992 NY Times obituary.  McIntyre apparently spent a lot of time in Florida during the campaign, confident in his wide lead in the polls.  He was vocal for abortion-rights, advocated National Healthcare, and the Manchester Union Leader opposed him (not to mention Humphrey’s diligence).

The parallels between Humphrey and Lamontagne are inspiring.

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