So, the 2022 elections are over, and NH decided that it had no intention of bringing about a change in political direction in Washington, DC.
Please don’t tell me about “how close” the challengers came. In politics, “close” is meaningless. Close is a loss. The winners can claim anything they want: “the voters didn’t want change,” “the voters want us to stay the course,” “the voters stayed home,” etc. They can claim whatever they wish because… well, because they won.
I won’t discuss whether Sununu intentionally torpedoed any of the GOP candidates. But it is obvious he’s not fully supportive of those of his own party. Morse lost the primary to Boldoc, but Sununu refused to support Boldoc until it was too late. Sununu forgot Reagan’s rule: “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.” Enough about Sununu – we all know who and what he is, and what he stands for.
Did NH have a good slate of candidates on the Republican side of the ballot? Well, yes and no. But please don’t tell me they lost because “they didn’t have experience in political office”. NOBODY has experience in political office until they’ve actually been elected.
Until you are actually seated in office, you don’t realize the gravity of your situation.
Unless, of course, you came into office assuming you were already an expert, that others should bow to your “expertise”, and that you are “in power” and not a “public servant.”
The current and now reelected members of the NH delegation to DC believe they are the “experts” on what NH needs, and therefore they don’t need to listen to their constituents. Please tell me whether Hassan, Shaheen, Pappas, or Kuster have held regular town halls to find out what their constituents want – not what their sponsors or backers want – and whether they take those suggestions to heart when returning to DC.
The citizens of NH decided that the current set of representatives to Washington was exactly what they wanted.
Nashua just finished its property reassessment and has announced the new tax rate: $18 (and cents) per $1000. On the property that we owned, that was about a $900 increase from 2021 – or close to 10%. Nashuans’ will soon receive their new tax bills as well as the increased gas, electric, and oil bills for this winter. There will be gnashing of teeth, wails of sorrow, and some will wonder whether they will have to make a choice between food, heat, or medicine.
But that is what the voters of Nashua – and the voters of NH – decided they want. They decided to keep the status quo in Washington.
The voters of NH will soon feel real economic pain.
But that is what they wanted.
They voted for it.
(Image H/T: Charlie Wollborg at Flikr, Image made smaller, license here)
