In the second third of CloseUP, Rich Ashooh did his pre-announcement announcement for US Congress in CD-1 and challenging Frank Guinta, the incumbent. We covered Rich back in 2010 when he ran the first time and I guess the interactions I had with him were favorable – I started calling him “Gentleman Rich” as he was always the perfect gentleman. It will be interesting to see how this goes – and I wonder if his entrance into the race had anything to do with Dan Innis’s rather quick exit from it.
Anyways, he got the same question about the opiate problem here in NH that Jeanne Shaheen did. But first McElven asked him about the current political climate – and I thought his answer a bit curious:
Sidenote: again, UPPER CASE is WMUR’s transcript with the lower case my fill-ins and corrections
ON BOTH SIDES, Democrat and Republican let’s not forget, THERE, there, — THERE’s THESE RIFTS GOING ON and that sort of thing. I think the goal for the Republicans is to try to FIND THE MESSAGE buried in a lot of the, quite frankly, bombast that we’re seeing on the news shows.
Really, a “messaging” problem? Er, no. Sure, yes, when you listen to Donald Trump, it can be muddled as his answers can span from the Right to the Left – especially when there is little detail on which to flesh out what he’s really going to do. And then there’s John Kasich that seems to be Left of Center than Republican lately. Ted Cruz seems to be on message and certainly that has been from the Conservatarian standpoint. But messaging is not the main problem which he missed completely. It is their actions that can be summed up by “Say what you mean, mean what you say”. Republicans of late, both in DC and in Concord, have failed in that simple litmus test. Elected officials have said “yes, I am like you” when speaking to the base and then do the exact opposite when their butts are in those seats.
No, Rich, it is not a case of messaging but a problem of Trust. It is a failure of Trust that is driving this political climate – and people are desperately ar looking for someone that they can trust and it is clear that they can’t trust the Establishment on the Right with the Outsiders basically grinding down those seen as Establishment into the dust. Rightfully or not, they have judged the Party as wanting.
Messaging – yes as most Republicans have no real idea of how to get Conservative principles across to the electorate that is much happier to know the nuances of Kim Kardashian’s latest state of undress than they do those dealing of self-responsibility, self-government, and self-independence in a time of instant gratification and entitlement.
I mean, YOU HAVE BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN candidates and a tenor which I am THOROUGHLY OPPOSED TO. I’ve ALWAYS THOUGHT that POLITICS was something that you could being your MOTHER AND KIDS TO. Right now, I’m concerned about that. Having said that, you know, THERE’S DEFINITELY SOMETHING GOING ON HERE IN THE ELECTORATE and PEOPLE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THINGS are NOT BEING REPRESENTED BY THE STATUS QUO and we have to address that. Quite frankly, WHATEVER HAPPENS AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET, WE NEED A GOOD Congress too and that’s why I’m running.
He at least begins to see the picture in “THERE’S DEFINITELY SOMETHING GOING ON HERE IN THE ELECTORATE and PEOPLE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THINGS are NOT BEING REPRESENTED BY THE STATUS QUO” – it seems, with no snark meant here, he can’t quite put his finger on it.
C’mon the show, Rich, we can talk about it!
He then also gets the opiod question and I believe that Rich gets it FAR more right than Jeanne Shaheen as he starts off with the MOST important answer to the question (other than “why did you make the decision to imbibe in the first place”?):
…THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THE kids. That is certainly THE LENS THROUGH WHICH WE LOOK. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CANNOT SUBSTITUTE FOR PARENTS, FRIENDS, step-parent, FOSTER PARENTS, ANYBODY ELSE, stepping in at any potential SIGN OF TROUBLE.
Shaheen immediately went to the Progressive solution – get government involved and the more the better and the “higher” the better still. At no point did she even mention individuals or families – only Government. This is a more practical, more Conservative, and more traditional answer – family first, families first, government last.
WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH STIGMA here. One is, there is, too much stigma ASSOCIATED WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE IN TROUBLE with drugs and not enough stigma attach TO THE CASUAL USE OF IT or the perscription drugs. THERE SHOULD BE A GREATER STIGMA ATTACHED TO OVER PRESCRIPTION, which is the gateway to many of these PROBLEMS. As a member of Congress, there are certainly things we can do and I will do them but I’M NOT WAITING. Right now we all, as a community need to be involved with this.
THIS.
At least he’s espousing what I have: local problems should have local responsibilities to solve them. He does hold to that while Shaheen immediately presents DC as the font of all solutions.
I do wonder, though, how badly Rich wants to and will fight for keeping the resources that Shaheen brags about here in NH in the first place. Again, open invite to come in some Saturday and yak with the Groksters – this primary is gonna last a while.
