My guess is that if our primary is decided on personality, then Ayotte will win due to higher name recognition and having won a statewide election.
And my guess is that if the primary is decided on policy that Morse will win. He has a long history of enacting the policies that have made NH the best state in the nation.
So far, I would say that we have started off badly, and if we continue on the current track, we could lose in November.
BUT I think there is a good way to get back on track and win in November.
It seems that NH Democrats are worried about Kelly Ayotte, and not interested in policies that are important to NH citizens. This is what NHJournal reported today:
“When New Hampshire’s Democratic candidates for governor gathered for a forum at Exeter Town Hall Sunday afternoon, the top topics were affordable housing, abortion rights, climate change, Education Freedom Accounts, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte. Left unmentioned?”
“Inflation, illegal immigration, anti-Israel protests roiling Granite State college campuses, and the other GOP candidate for governor, former state Senate President Chuck Morse.”
Three points:
Democrats will be campaigning on personal destruction more than policy
- They think Ayotte will win the primary
- They have already started the general election campaign
- We can and should start the general election campaign right away, and we should focus on policy, not personality.
We know the policies of the Democrats. It doesn’t matter who the person is; they all have the same (bad) policies.
Morse (and preferably also Ayotte) should focus on the Democrats’ policies, not on each other. Compare and contrast Republican policies vs. Democrat policies. Morse can say that he knows how to keep NH great. He has been enacting good NH policy for a dozen years.
Make the primary an audition for the general election – Republican vs. Democrat rather than the traditional circular firing squad. Let’s see how each of our candidates would perform against the Democrat. Let voters choose the one who is seen to do the best job beating the Democrat.
Morse can have a strong campaign about his leadership helping to make NH the best state in the nation, which would weaken the eventual Democratic nominee. The traditional approach of attacking the other Republican does nothing to strengthen his own position and nothing to weaken the Democrat. It leaves the Republican very little time to make our case.
Can we convince Morse that this new approach gives him the best chance to win the primary and then the general?
