Ayotte
As reported yesterday by James Pindell at NHPoliticalReport.com, the now former NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has
filed papers opening up an exploratory committee for the U.S. Senate, a source close to Ayotte said.
The source said Ayotte will begin raising money immediately and begin a conversation with New Hampshire Republicans.
Regular readers know that this conservative blogger remains skeptical of both her candidacy and her conservative credentials. Bolstering my concern, Pindell’s report further noted
As a first time candidate Ayotte has advantages and unknowns. Her advantages include the backing of U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg and much of the Republican establishment, good name recognition, and a bi-partisan resume.
Does anybody really think this sounds like a candidate that will go to Washington with a single purpose of reducing the size of government thereby putting a halt to the socialism starting to engulf us? And really, as a conservative, what has the so-called Republican "establishment" done for ME lately?
I’m not just some lone guy in the wilderness on this one. Former state representative and one-time fill-in Union Leader Editorial Page Director Dean Dexter of Laconia has a few questions and observations, too:
Who is Kelly Ayotte? Where Will She Get the Money?
News Item: July 12, 2009 –Tom Fahey, The NH Sunday News on resigned NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte:
"Her next and most important consideration: money. If the 2008 contests between U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and former U.S. Sen. John Sununu are an indication, she’ll need $10 million or more to get through a primary and general election. Sununu and Shaheen spent a total of $16.6 million, and neither faced a primary opponent.
"You don’t raise that kind of money staying at home opening the mail. Ayotte will see a lot of the country as she travels in search of campaign donations. In her rear view will be wealthy investor Fred Tausch, who’s already throwing money around on his "Steward" anti-stimulus plan. He demurs on whether he’s a candidate, but his mail campaign targets announced Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-NH. Tausch has hired experienced campaign staffers from the Sununu and John McCain camps."
Question: Of course the question is money. Where will she get it? Who is supporting Ayotte financially as she does the preliminary groundwork for a senate run? There’s travel costs, and such things as hiring staff, setting up offices, buying or leasing computers, etc., and, well, paying the mortgage and getting food on the table. Is the family independently wealthy?
Observation: Ayotte made her decision to quit her post after a fact-finding trip to Washington, meeting with the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee and liberal Maine Republican Susan Collins.
Question: What commitments were made to her behind closed doors on behalf of unsuspecting N.H. voters about "their" U.S. Senate seat? How pompous and presumptuous is it for these Washington power-brokers to weasel themselves into a New Hampshire primary this early, as one friend noted, "putting their fingers on the scales" tilting the race in her favor, if only just a bit? Actually it happens all the time. And Susan Collins? One of those liberal Republicans who voted for the Stimulus? Oh, Please.
Other Questions: Who is Kelly Ayotte? Where does Ayotte stand on the issues? Issues like cap and trade, single payer universal healthcare, immigration, an activist judiciary, abortion, big spending in general? Well, we know where she stands on the outrageous Pelosi-Reid-Obama Stimulus, since with Lynch she unabashedly urged organizations to apply for the federal boondoggle earlier this year.
[Originally posted at NHCommentary.com used with permission.]
We look forward to having Ms. Ayotte on MTNP radio convince me I’ve got this all wrong…