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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

Interview – Andy and Laurie Sanborn (NH Senate & NH House) – Part 3

Part 1  Part 2 Continuing in our interview with Laurie and Andy Sanborn (running for the NH House and NH Senate, respectively):  Question 5: if elected to Senate – specifics about on making the footprint of government smaller? Question 6: If elected to House, specifics on mitigating the NH State Pension liability time bomb?    … Read more

Live Blogging – Jim Forsythe at the Gunstock Inn

Per usual, live streaming (if the fairly weak Wifi lasts – the Gunstock Inn / Mountainside (Gilford, NH) actually has a couple of access points, but I’m at the far end…sigh).  Tweeting if possible. Live Stream:

Email Doodlings – On The Party, really supporting conservative candidates and the need to get involved (instead of just being a “bomb thrower”)

"…Then you’ll get the GOP you want.  But not until…"

Another abstraction from an email thread that I am on (somewhat abridged and edited):

I know that you asked, but I hope you would accept my comments as well (and for the record, I have endorsed Jack [Kimball for NH Governor] and Ovide [Lamontagne for US Senator] both).  And yes, this time around, I think the GOP will support them both if they win the primaries (as opposed to what they did to Coburn and Kenney).  I will back what <redacted 1> said – Sununu wants conservatives (as opposed to {Fergus "The Fringe"] Cullen who has only shown utter disdain for Conservatives and our positions).

I have never looked to see if other counties have actual platforms, but I can assuredly tell you that there is no Belknap County "platform".  Different State platforms – sure and why not?  Decentralization allows for each state to discusses the problems it must address politically – and those issues may not exist in other states.  It also allows for more local control than if there was a single platform – an application, of sorts, of Federalism.

You have struck at the nerve of…

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Somehow, I think that Gordon Humphrey would be a FAR better spokesperson than…

…this guy. Looks like the Dean of NH Conservatives, Gordon Humphrey, likes the sweep of Jim’s contrails…. Gordon Humphrey Endorses Jim Forsythe for District 4 State Senate Former US Senator and NH Conservative Figure Supports Forsythe’s Bid LACONIA- The Jim Forsythe for State Senate Campaign has announced today that Jim has received the endorsement of … Read more

NH 9-12 Liberty Picnic – General John Stark Birthday Bash – Report Part 2

Part 1 is here. Continuing with the reporting from the Rochester / Dover 9-12 Liberty Picnic, here are two more clips. THis clip is of Diane Gilbert of the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies – she describes how she and her group have waited YEARS for this explosion of interest in the Constitution; she … Read more

Let me add this to Tom’s post on Mr. Binnie…

Certainly, RedHampshire has the Letter from Uncle John NH GOP Chair John Sununu: The first issue is to remember the value of winning the primary in a manner that makes the primary worth winning…Thus, the temptation to go negative is irresistible. It may seem to be advantageous to go negative to win the primary, but … Read more

Interview – Andy and Laurie Sanborn (NH Senate & NH House) – Part 2

Part 1

Continuing in our interview with Laurie and Andy Sanborn (running for the NH House and NH Senate, respectively). 

Question 3:

Government is ever encroaching into biz and personal lives; the Progressives see that as necessary and good governance.  Your thoughts and what will you do to combat that mindset?

Question 4:

Why is this a very important time politically?  What are the driving factors?

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This is a “How Not To Give A Ringing Endorsement” teachable moment…

I think that if George would watch this, he might agree: time, perhaps, to  contemplate getting another spokesman"

  • "…If I don’t agree with you, I can drop you like a bad habit…"
  • "…my way or the highway…"
  • "…still get my way…"
  • "…I may dump him and run after all…"

Suffice to say that the Lakes Region Rigor Mortis Conservative doesn’t exactly have me on his "A" party list so when I watched this clip that was sent to me, I figured I’d put it up.  Please remember, however, that these are not my words – they are his.

This video can be hard to listen to – outdoor, near a road with traffic, and on a phone cam; you may need to listen to it a couple of times.

Now, let’s be fair;  the full clip (unedited by me) IS after the jump and is 4:24 in length; this "abstract" is 2:47. 

Watch both and decide for yourself – endorsement…for who?

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“Candidates Should Pledge To Keep The NH Presidential Primary Law”

A guest post by Jim Splaine (D-Portsmouth), member, NH House of Representatives:

Candidates Should Pledge To
Keep The NH Presidential Primary Law

"Once upon a time there was something called ‘The New Hampshire First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary.’"
 
Hopefully that line won’t be written in a future history book, relating a long-lost election process that kicked off with our Presidential Primary.  We have had our "first" status for decades only because we vigorously defend it when it is threatened.  When we begin to negotiate it away, we stumble down the path toward losing it.  Our Primary itself can become past history if we let some politicians put their interests ahead of the interests of democracy.
 
I go back a long way on this cause.  As a little pup in 1960 I passed out brochures in my neighborhood for a young presidential candidate from a next-door state who seemed to talk to my generation, although he seemed mighty old.  In 1968 I supported his younger brother because a needless war was killing my college friends.  In that election, I saw first-hand the importance of our Primary.
 
So in 1975, when our lead-off status was being widely threatened, I sponsored a bill in the NH Legislature that wrote into law that our Primary would be scheduled by the Secretary of State "…7 days or more…" before others.  Through the years I sponsored four updates to that law to protect our tradition, including most recently this past June, to guarantee that we will hold the first primary AND that it would not be followed within a week by any state.
 
Our state law mandates…

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Interview – Andy and Laurie Sanborn (NH Senate & NH House) – Part 1

Normally, the ‘Grok interviews have been "micro" – a couple of questions and up to 5 minutes.  Given this election cycle, given this time in that cycle, we’re switching a couple of gears.

I got to know Andy a couple of years ago and have categorized him as gentle giant of a man – and a Happy Warrior style campaigner.  Stolidly conservative, he is running for the NH Senate in District 7.  His wife, Laurie, is also of the conservative persuasion.  Together, they are small (serial) business owners that understand all too well how NH Government has become something out of control under the Progressive / Democrat control of the House, the Senate, the Governorship, and the Executive Council.

In this clip, we ask

Question 1:

Why are you both running?

Over the next few days, we’ll have a bunch more of these as we ask more and more questions.

But for tonight, we have one additional question and answer after the jump (and yes, one of the Groksters decided to practice with his new camera..):

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NH 9-12 Liberty Picnic – General John Stark Birthday Bash – Report Part 1

Jointly sponsored by the Rochester and Dover 9-12 groups, this past Saturday the ‘Grok was in Dover at NH’s Olympian Swimmer namesake outdoor complex, the Jenny Thompson Outdoor Pool.  While the crowd was a bit sparser than I had expected, we still had a good time – and a goodly number of speakers (including, as Jeff Chidester labeled it: "Candidate Kareoka").

This clip is of ; introductory ceremonies: Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation (by The Patriot Pastor, Garrett Lear), and opening remarks by Jeff Chidester and Jerry Delemus.

The introductory ceremonies:

The Patriot Pastor, Garrett Lear, then addressed the participants:

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Live Blogging – and the ‘Grok has been invited

Not far from the house – check! A good conservative, Liberty loving candidate – check! Open mic – che….uh-oh….not. on. your. life. Thankfully, being a teetotaler, I can’t be persuaded THAT way. However, Skip, Remember – you’re working on saying "no" to challenges…. Hunch over the keyboard, look busy, and maybe they’ll think you’re doing … Read more

Lucky? Nope – think Murphy’s Laws at work again…

Yeah, I know ONE campaign that wouldn’t bother to ask…. Just putting my head up for a bit since I’ve been trying to play catch up on processing video to post (when you get 4 events behind….)…and came across two different posts (Hot Air, RingWingNews) referencing this at the Daily Caller: Katie Couric once described  … Read more

Seacoast Republican Women Debate – MicroInterviews

OK, ALMOST caught up from last Wednesday’s event with the Seacoast ladies!  I had the chance to only do a couple of Micro Interviews.  The serious one was with Nancy Stiles who was the moderator ( and is currently in the NH House of Representatives is now running for NH Senate): The other short (but fun) … Read more

GraniteGrok Debating Awards!

Tongue-in-cheek awards!

I can be a long patient person – as shown by my willingness to endure endless hours of drab, humorless blither and blather by office-holder-wannabees, I crave moments of either absolute absurdity or stunning brilliance in the art and execution in the rhetorical arts.

Well, Wednesday nite at the Seacoast Republican Women Senatorial Debate, there were three responses that I decided deserved a wee bit more attention than the rest of the rather drab (but important!) questions and answers – because they made us laugh.  They are:

  • The Tweaking Award
  • The Best One Word Answer in a Foreign Language Award
  • The Best Non-verbal Response Award

Thus, let us render the prizes! 

GraniteGrok Award – "The Tweaking Award"

The Tweaking Award, was earned by Jim Bender for cheekily taking advantage of the very public and blunderbuss carrying party that Bill Binnie and Kelly Ayotte are sharing.

GraniteGrok Award –  "Best One Word Answer In A Foreign Language"

Gerard Beloin truly earned this honor with his answer to the question "Would you vote yes to make English to be the official language of the United States?"

GraniteGrok Award – "Best Non-verbal Response Award"

Once again,

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Bill O’Brien at the Belknap County Republican Committee

At the last meeting of the Belknap County Republicans (8/11/10), Bill O’Brien, a NH House Representative and Chair of the NH GOP Platform Committee, gave a brief talk to the assembled crowd (full house!) on some of the changes to the Republican Platform that have been proposed.

Most of them center around an enhanced adherence to the Constitution and the philosophy of a limited government – putting in items to slow down or reverse the growth of Government that has been put on steroids by Democrats since 2006.

Does Bill believe in them? So much so that he is running to be the next Speaker of House; confident that Republicans will take back the House and the Senate here in NH, he believes that he is part of the new Vanguard of Republicans – a renewed and robust leadership that will do more than just give mere lip service to the words: Constitution, limited government, individual liberty and freedom.

Past Republican stewardship talked the talk but reaped the rewards of not doing the walk; Bill intends on leading the pack down Liberty way.

Q & A session that he shared with Jack Kimball after the jump:

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