Again, Bill O’Brien has been endorsed by GraniteGrok for Speaker of the NH House; it seems that another powerful voice in the Liberty and Freedom movement is speaking up for him – and for the right reason (emphasis mine). Heck, he made the Extremist 16, didn’t he?
I have served three previous terms in the House, from 2002 through 2008. Each provided its own education from an organizational standpoint. During the first, we had enormous Republican majorities in both Chambers and a conservative Governor. During the second, we had smaller Republican majorities and a Democrat Governor. During the third, there were large Democrat majorities and a Democrat Governor.
The most frustrating of these terms? Surprisingly, to me it was the first, under the Speakership of Gene Chandler, because despite having a golden opportunity to solidify and extend New Hampshire’s unique standing as a haven of free enterprise and personal liberty in New England, we were unable to pass even basic Republican Party Platform priorities. The reason? Leadership that allowed itself to be co-opted by process, more interested in meeting arbitrarily set deadlines for Getting Things Done than in the content of what was done; more interested in indulging in feuds with Senate Leadership and the Governor than in supporting solid Republican initiatives. Having high expectations and watching them die through the indifference, confusion and negligence of your own leaders is sometimes worse than having had no expectations to begin with.
Legislating is not a parlor game. Despite what people from the outside will tell you about the virtues of bipartisanship,…
…once inside you quickly find it a formula for failure and betrayal of your constituents and your conscience. Elected as Republicans, our duty is to enact the Republican agenda, not to compromise with Democrats in pursuit of unanimity and momentary public applause. The Democrats understand this; for too long we Republicans have not.
Alone among the Republican candidates for Speaker, Bill O’Brien understands this. Brilliant, courteous, personable and always receptive to constructive argument, Bill nevertheless is committed to the imperative of not merely stopping but reversing the damage to New Hampshire’s economy, reputation and direction sustained by four years of economic and moral decline pursuing the Democrats’ corrosive progressive agenda.
Your first vote of the session – your vote for Speaker of the House – will be the most important you will cast during the entire term. Don’t waste it by voting for a resumption of the aimless Republican drift of the past decade. Vote for a Speaker who will work to fulfill the purposes for which you stepped up and ran for the House. Vote for Bill O’Brien.
Gregory M. Sorg
Attorney at Law
Candidate for the NH House
Grafton District 3
Priorities, people, priorities….
