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Skip And the “Press Gaggle” ( aka “press availability” or it can be called “the time when reporters and MSM Press can ask silly questions to show their Editors they are actually doing something to earn their expense accounts / salaries”) – added after the jump!
LAST OF THE QUESTIONS!
Question 11: What is your policy on Israel?
Question 12: Will my sick child have to stand in line at a charity hospital under your administration?
Given that it is the day before the NH First in the Nation Primary, that the ‘Grok is NH based, and the number of my recent Ron Paul posts, most of you are probably thinking that I am going to vote for Ron Paul. No, I am not (much to the dismay of my friends that are Ron Paul supporters).
In fact, I still don’t know who I am vote for – given that I originally was backing Herman Cain, I have not yet decided on a candidate (it still surprises me and a lot of my friends – WHAT? You?). I will admit that it will be either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich – but every time I think my thinking has settled down, it shakes again. Regardless of which it is, I am proud of the fact that in addition to the commentary, punditry, and all out bloggish snark we serve up here, we also do straight “citizen journalism” with the use of either recorded or live stream video. All I can hope for is that the hours and hours of time putting up entire events (vs the 30 second sound bite you get from most MSMers) helped you, our readers, to make your decisions based on what you thought of the candidates’ actual words vs the ‘filter’ inserted into the process by the MSM .
Here are some “after event” interviews right after Ron Paul finished his event. Sorry for the poor audio quality of my questions, but it was loud! Most of the interviews went like this: Ron supporter or undecided, domestic policy that attracts you to him, foreign policy item that attracts you. And yes, two of the folks there were undecided (and one from LA)!
First, Barbara (who lives in my home town, as you will see):
Next up, friends Seth and Jim:
Shane Vander Hart of Iowa’s Caffeinated Thoughts and the Groksters will be chatting live as the poll returns start coming in here in NH starting at about 7pm (at least, that’s the estimated time). Newer posts will be posted after this one during our CHAT – then this will be rolled downward.
Jim Forsythe’s next two questions at the Ron Paul Presidential Primary event in Meredith, NH this afternoon:
Question 2: You have proposed cutting $1 Trillion from the Federal budget right off – why is it so important to cut Federal spending?
Question 3:Military vs defense spending – and how will the military look like under President Ron Paul?
Continuing more with questions – but now from the audience:
Unemployment numbers just came out – are we now coming out of the woods?
Alzheimers steals billions of productivity from this nation – what will you do about it?
This afternoon, the 2012 Presidential Primary campaign came to Church Landing in Meredith, NH where a 500-600 strong contigent of Ron Paul supporters from all over (4 gentlemen standing next to me had come from Holland). TMEW and I arrived about 40 minutes before the start of the event and even at that, we were relegated to the back of the room, so good thing I had brought the “tall” tripod. It is a good thing that the Fire Marshall didn’t come strolling by -he would have shut down the event for overcapacity and when I realized that folks were still trying to come in, I was glad that the “back of the room” also meant “in the corner next to the double exit doors”.
The intensity level: high (is there anything other than that at a Ron Paul event)? The event was a bit different from the normal stump speech in that there was no stump speech from Dr. Paul – only introductions by NH State Senator Jim Forsythe (my state senator and the Ron Paul State Director) and Ron Paul’s son, US Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY). Right after that, Jim started off with asking questions of Dr. Paul followed by questions from the crowd.
This clip is the intro ceremonies and the video of Question 1 is after the jump:
Q1: How has medical practice changed since you started, and how has that change affected your view of Government?
OK, still have this and one more video to put up after this – of Rand Paul who arrived later at the event than originally scheduled. But anyways…. Gov. Sununu spoke after Rick Santorum. Now, over the last three or four years, when Gov. Sununu spoke (like the old financial company ad said) “people listened”. … Read more
And the last of the videos from Friday nite: Senator Rand Paul spoke in his father’s (Congressman Ron Paul) stead: Notice: the cacophony that was in former NH Gov. Sununu’s clip disappeared as he began to speak…
I met Shane for the first time this past fall at the American for Prosperity event back in May, 2011 where Ovide Lamontagne was honored as their 2011 Conservative of the Year and a “Presidential Summit on Spending and Job Creation” featuring the Republicans vying to be the Republican nominee for President. We had the chance to chat with him then – listen to the fifth audio snippet on the page. Well, he asked if I would be willing to write a post on how I thought the Iowa Caucus results would play here in NH at his site of Caffeinated Thoughts – so I asked him to do the same:
Why the Iowa Caucus Results Should Matter
The tired cliche heard around the world rang hollow just days before the Iowa Caucus. Jon Huntsman, desperate for attention, for the second time said, “Iowa picks corn, but New Hampshire picks Presidents.” Pretty desperate, but he is three-fourths right. I have to agree that Iowa does pick corn (and soybeans). I will also acknowledge New Hampshire’s prominent role in presidential nomination politics. You play a very key role! All one has to do is ask John McCain how important New Hampshire is. Ask Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and now Rick Santorum how important the Iowa Caucus is and they would likely say – extremely.
I want to share with you three reasons why I believe Tuesday’s Iowa Caucus results should matter to those planning on voting in next Tuesday’s New Hampshire Primary:
Contact: Ken Eyring FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ph: 603-434-4836 Email: ken@SouthernNH912.com SENATOR RAND PAUL IN WINDHAM NH Senator Rand Paul, the son of Presidential candidate Ron Paul, is scheduled to appear on behalf of his father at a special Southern NH 9.12 event in Windham, NH. The modified Town Hall event will take place on Saturday, … Read more
Yeah, replacing it with “himself” would be one way
(H/T: Nat Beeler)
Update: A friend of mine from Ohio sent me this email:
Skip – while I enjoy the cartoons, I think today’s cartoon misses the mark: we have a Congress and Republican mindset that refuses to vote on appointments. Its really too bad the President can’t fire Congress for failing to work. On the plus side – at least when they’re on recess they’re not spending money 🙂
I really like this guy – have worked with him, collaborated with him, and have known him for years. But this, I needed to respond to:
>> Its really too bad the President can’t fire Congress for failing to work
Think about it – this really is a feature and not a bug. A DELIBERATE feature!
I totally forgot to post this – my guest post scribblings that Shane requested and posted over at Caffeinated Thoughts on why I thought that the Iowa Caucus mattered here in NH right after it was over. I will tell you, based on the Press reaction last night to Rick Santorum (uploading the video now, will post shortly), Iowa’s results do matter here in NH:
Well, we’ve now been through the warm up where the players assembled, a few that were desired by the fans declined to come out and play, and some of the would be players stayed home when the prelim lineup matchups didn’t play out as they wanted. We saw a wide range of nuances within a fairly narrow band stances which brought in either hoots or jeers from the stands with some flag waving, some huzzahs, and not a few raspberries thrown about. A couple more left after the general shoot around before the the Big Show started; a few of the lessors kept circling the court waiting to be asked to play (but never got the nod – and one finally went to another game).
Tuesday night, the opening buzzer to that Big Show sounded and it was a dash to the hoop – politicians looking to score big. Layups, gimmes, hooks, jump shots and three pointers. And yes, a couple of players got stuffed as they went for what they thought would have been a slam dunk on their home court. And like what happens in hockey, a game broke out during the fight. And when it was over, two winners, a tie, and a couple also rans. And one self-ejection.
While we tried to provide live video streaming of the event (during which, some member of the MSM kicked our power cord out as we were trying to interview Rick Santorum, and the Intertubes had some comms problems), we always try to back that up with recording video. Thus, I’ll put them up over the … Read more
The next speaker at the Hillsborough Republican event last night was former Speaker of the US House, Newt Gingrich. To say that there was a crush of MSM press would not even come close! As he had another event soon after , his remarks were rather short – but well listened to:
In addition to Newt, there were plenty more speakers at the event last night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH held by the Hillborough County Republicans:
Here is the video clip of former LA Congressman and Governor Buddy Roemer:
The rest are after the jump:
Former US Senator Rick Santorum was also present at the Hillsborough Republican event. Although the Press surrounding Newt slowed the beginning of the event, they literally SWARMED him afterwards, making it all but impossible for Chair Chadwick to continue with the proceedings. Through the ministrations of Stacy “the Other McCain” and my long term friendship … Read more
Back in April when speed limits on Lake Winnipesaukee (approx. 21 miles long, from 1 to 9 miles wide , covering 69 square mile and a maximum depth of 212 feet) were being debated, one intrepid lawmaker asked for comments on Facebook as she was being inundated by emails and decided to see what her friends said. Of course, there was one complaint that was truly obnoxious in the vein of “if not human powered, make it illegal” (right, look at the size of it!).
The lake needs a break! The smell of gas is obnoxious when you go swimming. Wasn’t that way 10 years ago! You can’t cross the Lake in a canoe and feel safe. Too many idiots! safety is a huge issue! It’s time to do something to protect those who come to enjoy the lake!
Another concerned themselves with “what if a slow boat comes in contact with a fast boat” and that implied that the fast boats necessarily meant that all other tourists would bail. While I did talk about the actual accident records (which show that speed is a minor contributor to accidents on the Big Lake when compared to bad or drunken driving, failure to obey the present laws, and the like), that simply was not enough. Making it on the facts turned out to be a loser – this argument was based on “Feelings, nothing more than Feelings….”.
So I addressed the underlying use of THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE – which effectively says “unless YOU can prove it is safe, we’re gonna ban it if we think there is a slightest risk of harm at all”.
Well, I guess that the heat got turned up real hot! Remember Town Administrator Scott Dunn’s response to me when I asked him to apologize to the citizen who he maligned in a Letter to the Editor (and my complaint to the Selectman Kevin Hayes here)
On 12/27/2011 8:10 AM, Scott Dunn wrote:
Dear Mr. Murphy,
I respectfully decline to comply with your demand that I apologize to Mrs. Aichinger.
Nonetheless, I thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Scott J. Dunn, Town Administrator
Town of Gilford
47 Cherry Valley Road
Gilford, NH 03249
TEL: 603.527.4700
FAX: 603.527.4711
A blow off, if I’ve ever seen one. Well, I guess he had to change his tune based on the fire storm of objections (from both the Right and the Left here in town). No, not necessarily directed specifically at him, but to his bosses: Selectmen Gus Benevides, Kevine Hayes, and John O’Brien (Chair). Not only did he make the front page / above the fold story in this headline (Wednesday’s Laconia Sun (P. 4) ):
he had another Letter as well as (where GI is Governor’s Island where a number of folks who have earned success have either year round homes or vacation homes):
To the editor,
We are here in Nashua at the Crowne Plaza hotel – a bit late, but streaming live! Grokster Mike is here and I am joined by Stacy “the Other” McCain and DaTechGuy. We are all set up (mostly!) and we will be getting this event recorded and we’ll try to get some interviews as well!
Contact: Ken Eyring FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ph: 603-434-4836 Email: ken@SouthernNH912.com RICK SANTORUM TOWN HALL EVENT MOVED TO WINDHAM HIGH SCHOOL The modified Town Hall style event that is being hosted by the Southern NH 9.12 Project for presidential candidate Senator Rick Santorum is being moved to a larger venue due to overwhelming demand. The event … Read more