Our super-activist, grass-roots, political reform, hope-and-change advocate, GraniteGrok.com, has recently 
endorsed Jack Kimball for chairman of the NH GOP. And I’m glad to see it.
In fact, I’ve been meaning to do the same thing for a couple of weeks now. But…but…somehow I’ve found it uncharacteristically difficult to do so.
It’s not like I’m any shrinking violet when it comes to taking political stands. No, it’s not that.
And it’s not like Jack isn’t immensely qualified as the right man, at the right moment time, and in the right place, to lead the renewed and revitalized New Hampshire Republican Party forward over the next two years. He is, after all, the man of the hour.
No. It’s not any of those. In my case, it seems to be something else…something that’s been making me hesitant.
Here are my thoughts about why….
First, an initial thought: The New Hampshire GOP has such good leadership, and such good energy, and such good grassroots activism…that it seems a shame to say or do anything that might…well, upset our existing unity. We have a job to do, after all, and that is to repair the very extensive damage done to our state by the majority Democrats in Concord over the past four years.
The race for the chairmanship of the NH GOP has come down to a race between Jack Kimball and Juliana Bergeron. From all I have seen and heard, Ms. Bergeron has been a faithful leader for the Cheshire County Republicans for several years. She has served her party there well and honorably. And yet, the time, the place, and the need for a leader like Jack Kimball seem to have come together like some kind of a historical inevitability, just for this time and place. Nor is it surprising that Kimball—a favorite of the Tea Party movement in New Hampshire—has also been publicly endorsed by Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien, GOP Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt, former GOP Congressional candidates Jannifer Horn and Bob Giuda, NH conservative movement founder Paul Mirski, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, GraniteGrok.com, and scores of sitting State House members.
But still….I have those…feelings. Upon reflection, I guess it comes down to this: I don’t want to say or do anything that will, um, discourage or dissipate the energy and loyalty of Ms. Bergeron and her supporters, either.
The fact is, the extraordinary wave of Republican electoral victories—both in New Hampshire and in the United States—have been driven by the emegence of a powerful alliance of grass-roots activist groups. Together they have forged a positive political force that is unstoppable and now working to restore our former "New Hampshire advantage." The groups involved include long-time Republican Party activists, the emegent forces of the Tea Party movement, social conservatives, constitutionalists, libertarians, 9/12ers, and resurgent "movement conservatives." This alliance is rapidly expanding the Republican Party and lending vast energy to our drive for political reform.
And not a moment too soon….
So I guess the problem—with me, at least—has been the feeling that even though Jack Kimball is the man I will support and vote for state party chairman on January 22nd, I’m also enthralled with the new alliance and unity in our party, and I sort of don’t want to make anyone else feel…well, discouraged. Strange, you say? Not to me: If we can maintain our unity in the newly energized, newly expanded, newly confident, and newly victorious NH GOP…we can point the way to saving not only our own state of New Hampshire, but the entire United States of America.
So take heart, all you GOP supporters of all the other candidates for leadership—from Juliana Bergeron to Gene Chandler to Paul Mirski and many others: We are all both needed and united in the values and ideals reflected in our state party platform. Under that banner, we can move forward together, no matter who wins any particular race for any particular position.
That is to say, if you are a New Hampshire Republican, you are all my comrades in the heat of political battle. Thus, to all my brothers and sisters in the New Hampshire Republican party, I say…ONWARD! This war is far from over…but if we maintain our unity and purpose, victory will ultimately be ours.