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Plain Politics

Which Dem annoys you the most?

by Doug

GOPProgress.com has a fun poll for those of us that cringe at the mere mention of certain Democratic party bigshots. "Which Democrat annoys you the most?" is the question. Choose from the list: Joe Biden Hillary Clinton Howard Dean John Kerry John Murtha Nancy Pelosi Harry Reed Charles Schumer Pretty tough, heh? I went with … Read more

NH primary analysis by GraniteGrok

by Doug
Primary day has come and gone with few surprises, at least from where I sit.
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While the major media claim Democrat Carol Shea-Porter’s victory in the 1st District is an "upset", I disagree. Being an outspoken antiwar liberal, Shea-Porter reflects where the so-called "base" of the Democrats are at this moment- far to the looney left. Call this one NH’s "Lieberman/Lamont" race. Moonbat Shea-Porter handily beat the establishment candidate with impeccable party credentials, support from higher up the Democratic food-chain, and gobs of money. While the grass-roots Dems may think their warmed-over sixties version of peace, love, and happiness combined with a "cut and run" war plan is wildly popular at the moment, if a majority of the electorate in the general stop and think, they will realize why, as bad as the Repubs might be, the alternative is worse.
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This November, voters in the 1st CD will have a clear choice between the Republican incumbent Jeb Bradley (he handily won the primary) who is great on the border issue, lousy on the environment (votes against drilling for oil), correct with his support for the war, and generally fiscally conservative- and the ultra-left wing Cindy Sheehan type, Carol Shea-Porter. After people think about the two candidates positions, they will do the right thing and send Jeb back to D.C.
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The 2nd NH Congressional District primary has set the stage for a re-match of the last general election between Republican incumbent Charlie Bass and Democrat Paul Hodes. Charlie is more often than not a liberal on most issues. Most of my conservative brethren would like to see Charlie go away. Another primary… and still Charlie stays. He is right on the war, however, and that is of paramount importance. Bass and Hodes might be in lockstep on many social and environmental issues, but the Democrat also favors a "cut and run" strategy of withdrawal from Iraq. Like it or not, we must send Charlie back to D.C.
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Continue reading for local (central NH) race analysis…

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Primary Day in NH

by Doug
(UPDATE: Analysis of results click here.)
Today is primary day here in NH for state and national elected offices, many of which remain safely held, as they have for years, by Republicans. The major primary races such as the US Rep seats will undoubtedly remain the possesion of the incumbents. Jeb Bradley and Charlie Bass (no conservative, he) should then go on to win their seats again the general election this November. Neither of our US Senators are up this time around.
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Neither party has a primary for governor, setting up a Jim Coburn(r) / Gov. Lynch(d) match in November.
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The only real excitement are a handful of state senate races and a couple of executive council seats. Unfortunately, none of the contested executive council races include my district, where long-time incumbent Ray Burton (R-ino) is unnoposed. (Read a post on Burton from our sister-blog here). This guy is so "not a Republican" that the Dems rarely run a candidate against him.
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Over in the 3rd District, it is a different story. Businessman Sean Mahoney, outgoing state senate Finance Chair Chuck Morse, and former state Sen Russ Prescott are all vying for the seat vacated by long term Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin. I have friends and aquaintances, most conservatives, that are evenly split in their support of all three. It appears that this race is one of those rare ones where any one of the three would be a great choice. If I voted in that district, it would be a tough choice. In the end, based on what I know about the candidates, which is admittedly not much, I would cast a ballot for Sean Mahoney. Having the opportunity to have the business talents Sean would bring to the conduct of our state’s business is one that ought not be passed up. I supported Sean when he ran in the primary for US House and I would support him today. Pat Hynes over at AnkleBitingPundits agrees.
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Back in my neck of the woods, we do have what has turned out to be a very competitive challenge to incumbent Senator Rob Boyce, a conservative’s conservative, by long-time football coach/ teacher Jim Fitzgerald. What has really made things interesting are the shenanigans of the local dems and their liberal friends as they switch parties to sway the "party" choice. I wrote on our sister-blog (gilfordgrok.com) back in July:

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Guess who’s coming to dinner? Who invited him?

by Doug

In this previous posting, I applauded  Mitt Romney’s stance regarding Sunday’s lecture in Massachusetts at Harvard’s Institute of politics. Today’s Boston Herald published a letter from Daniel Wolfson of Brookline, MA expressing a similar sentiment to mine on the upcoming visit of the former Iranian leader and Gov. Mitt Romney’s refusal of the use of … Read more

Mitt: Thumbs up. US State Dept.: Thumbs down.

by Doug

Here at GraniteGrok, we spank ’em when they’re wrong… and thank ’em when they’re right- . While we have been somewhat tough on possible presidential wannabee Mitt Romney (here and here), today we congratulate him for his stance on a visiting terror state leader. Today’s (Sept. 6) Boston Herald reports: Gov. Mitt Romney is refusing to … Read more

President Bush speaks. Often, actually.

by Doug
We repeatedly hear people say that the President hasn’t spent enough time "selling" the war. I have said it fairly often myself. I had the opportunity to speak with a high level administration official recently and mentioned precisely that point. "Why doesn’t the President speak to the people? You know, explain the situation so that they’ll understand it." I said. His answer reminded me that the President, in fact, does- every week in his "Weekly Radio Address". Like Roosevelt’s famous "Fireside Chats", President Bush has taken time every Saturday to speak to the nation. You probably missed them because other than the occasional mention as part of some news blurb, the MSM virtually ignores them. He suggested I make it a point to either listen to it or read it every week.
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This is what the President said this past Saturday, September 2nd:
Good morning. This week, I spoke to the American Legion in Salt Lake City. I thanked the military veterans for their lifetime of service to our country. And I gave them an update on the war that America is now fighting in defense of freedom in our time.
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We’re approaching the fifth anniversary of the September the 11th attacks — and since that day, we have taken the fight to the enemy. Yet this war is more than a military conflict; it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation — the right of all people to speak, worship, and live in liberty. On the other side are those driven by tyranny and extremism — the right of a self-appointed few to impose their fanatical views on all the rest. We did not ask for this war, but we’re answering history’s call with confidence — and we will prevail.
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We are using every element of national power to defeat the terrorists. First, we’re staying on the offense against the terrorists, fighting them overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. Second, we made it clear to all nations, if you harbor terrorists, you’re as guilty as the terrorists, you’re an enemy of the United States, and you will be held to account. And third, we have launched a bold new agenda to defeat the ideology of the enemy by supporting the forces of freedom and moderation in the Middle East and beyond.

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“Big Dig” lawsuit filed. Could this spell trouble for Mitt?

by Doug

The family of the woman killed in the "Big Dig" tunnel ceiling failure has filed the inevitable lawsuit that quite naturally follows an accident of this nature. . Today is the one year  anniversary of the post-hurricane Katrina flooding of New Orleans. People can still be heard blaming President Bush for the complete failure of the … Read more

Romney: For renewable energy before he was against it…

by Doug

The State House News Service (MA) reports on Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s energy policies for that state as detailed in a recent press conference: STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 11, 2006….By investing in renewable energy and encouraging conservation, the state can rein in its appetite for fossil fuel consumption, Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday, rolling out … Read more

McCain & Rice win Bow Republican picnic straw poll

by Doug

Granitegrok.com, being headquartered in the "almost first in the nation" presidential nominating state of NH, will continue to feature postings about events and issues relevant to the 2008 presidential campaign.
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As we get closer to that election, many political events feature "straw polls" where those in attendance get to submit some form of "ballot" indicating preference for particular candidates. While not very scientific, they are great fun, and provide a small snapshot about how those gathered in the name of politics on a particular day and place view some of the major declared and potential candidates. The Bow Republican Committee held their picnic and straw poll Saturday, August 19th with the following tally:

Results
Bow Republican Committee Straw Poll 8/19/06

US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) 26%
US Secretary of State Condoleezza "Condi" Rice (R-Cal.) 26%
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R-NY) 14 %
Governor George Pataki (R-New York) 12%
US Senator George Allen (R-Virginia)  10%
Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) 10%
Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) 2%
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I’m not sure what the results mean, if anything. One could surmise that McCain, having won the 2000 primary, still enjoys the support of a fair number of NH-erites. No real surprise there. What is interesting to me is the relatively weak showing of Mitt Romney. Perhaps it’s the somewhat traditional apprehension the NH primary has shown to local candidates? Maybe the grassroots activists perceive him as too "establishment?" Giuliani places about where I would expect at this juncture. Newt has been energizing cable TV news watchers as of late with his well spoken ideas and thoughts, but obviously continues to represent damaged goods to those who think about this stuff. I have no explanation for Pataki, other than there must have been a few RINO (Republican In Name Only) types in attendance. Allen undoubtably got the support of the Reaganesque "hardcore" conservatives in attendance (my contact for these results being one confirming a vote for Allen- and I know he’s a true conservative…).
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The bottom line: It’s still early, and I predict (hope?) some as of yet unknown potential candidates will appear on the scene. For more on possible presidential contenders from all parties, visit politics1.com for the current list. 
UPDATE: Click "continue" below to see the listing of who was on the ballots provided. Anyone not listed above that appears in the list received no votes. Approx 100 people attended.

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Let the games begin!

by Doug

As we get closer to the ’08 presidential primary season, the movers and shakers have predictably begun the quadrennial kabuki dance with candidates and supporters. Who’s in? Who’s out? Will so-and-so still support candidate so-and-so this time around? Who’s really working for who? Living here in NH, where we are "almost first in the nation" to cast presidential ballots … Read more

The “Joementum” fizzles. No big deal.

by Doug

As I ponder the loss of Joe Lieberman in the CT Democratic primary, I just can’t get that broken up. While Joe certainly supports the war and the right of the Israelis to protect themselves in the current battle of the new world war, he was not much good on anything else. Heck- he gave … Read more

Edwards Visits NH- Recalls Cooler Days of Yore

by Doug

Democratic vice presidential nominee took time out from campaigning against WalMart to stop here in the Lakes Region of NH over the weekend. A report from the Citizen newspaper provides some details of the probable presidential candidate’s visit. First up, global warming (at least I think that’s what he was talking about): He began by … Read more

You can spend it, but you’re not getting it

by Skip

(H/T: Lucianne.com)

The Sydney Morning Herald ran a story about George Soros, and I learned a couple of new things.  First, and I did know this much, that this is a guy that puts his money where his mouth is – I can respect that although I don’t agree with his why:

T FIRST, George Soros thought that the problem with America was its President, George Bush. That’s why the New York multibillionaire threw himself into the campaign to bring Bush down.

He gave $US27.5 million to a range of campaigns to bring regime change to Washington in the 2004 election, according to his staff. This pales in comparison with his philanthropic work – he has donated an estimated $US5 billion at least to worthy causes in the past quarter century, especially in promoting open societies in the former communist bloc.

I just didn’t realize how much he spent – 27 mil is a really good chunk of change.

When Bush was re-elected, Soros was forced to rethink. "I tried to pin the blame on the Bush Administration," he writes. "I called the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq temporary aberrations that would be corrected in the next elections. But President Bush was re-elected."

Ah, another person not understanding the American public.  Others have made that bad decision in the past, much to their chagrin (think Pearl Harbor, think Taliban) and cost.

An expensive lesson to learn, eh?  But I think he’s making an even bigger mistake.  He isn’t getting the results he wants, so just as many others in the political arena have done, who does he want to blame?

 

So Soros has concluded Bush is not the problem: "I must now dig deeper and explore what is wrong with contemporary American society. What is wrong with us?" he says.

Well guy, right question, just got to change your focus a tad. 

 

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Money Pit?

by KenG

The ending paragraph of a WSJ editorial ("Tunnel to Nowhere," 3 Aug) on the Big Dig: When the Big Dig tunnels were finally completed, Gov. Romney suggested naming one of the arteries the "Liberty Tunnel" to pay tribute to the soldiers fighting for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Legislature protested and demanded that the … Read more

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