US Senate 2010

This may get a lot of motors running….printed with permission of Jeff Chidester from an email thread we are both on….and even a month later, this could invoke a bit of fireworks among the NH Conservative Folk…

and of course, I had an answer (after the jump).  We join the regularly scheduled show already in progress:

I have enjoyed your post and the all of the responses.

First let me say that that Bob (Bestani) is a great guy and solid candidate.  He has a great grasp on the issue, and as Fred said, has been very honest (even when people did not want to hear it) since announcing.  Bob is on my radio show this weekend (NH Perspective, Sunday 11am – 96.7 the WAVE). Sadly, this election has not really been about substance until now, and some candidates are talking more fluff than substance.

As to the Senate candidates. many people concur with your observations of Bill Binnie.  Some are concerned he is trying to buy the election (which never holds well with people). But seeking office is an expensive endeavor.

Kelly Ayotte is a solid conservative (Watch how the comments roll in on that statement – I know there are a lot of people who would disagree). Her position on Sotomayor was a non-political one, and based purely on the Constitutional responsibility a Senator has in the process.   We liberty-minded people get irked when liberals oppose justice nominees purely on ideological reasons, yet somehow expect the same behavior when we disagree with the nominee. The truth is elections have consequences, and the President gets to choose his nominees, and barring any revelations that disqualifies the nominee (which are few in nature), then all a Senator really can do is publicly state their concerns with the nominee.  The same Constitutional provision that applies to the Supreme Court applies to Ambassadors, Cabinet positions and other consuls and sadly has become too polarized (by those of the Left).

 Kelly has said numerous times she doesn’t agree with Sotomayor, and would have preferred a different nominee. But ‘prefer’ is not what a Senator is being asked to do in accordance with the Constitution. Kelly has been very clear…

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Well, as I said to one staffer on a campaign:

Well, the blunderbusses have arrived and reinforcements for them are just coming up over the hill – and some are marked as "deliver to GraniteGrok" as well!  I think the rabble rousing  and poo slinging has ignited among the candidates…

…Break out the popcorn!  Hoses, bandages, and surgeries begin at 6pm…

I’d like to think that we make our own here at the ‘Grok; yet, we are getting a number of blunderbusses from "Concerned Citizen"(s) who now are sending us stuff from all over the state – and who says New Hampshireites don’t take politics seriously!  Blunderbusses were never known for great accuracy (a Kentucky Long Rifle was good for picking off opponents at long distance) but work well for close in-fighting!

First in line certainly seems to be Bill Binnie (and no, for millions of obvious reasons, the word "poor" is not moving past my fingers here).  Remember this where Binnie accuses Ayotte of colluding with Cornerstone on the ad smacking Binnie around with his own words?  

Well, yet another unforced error, IMHO, from Binnie’s campaign when I read this (again, over at Drew Cline’s) as Brooks (Ayotte’s campaign manager) smacks Binnie around in return – but gives out an "attaboy" and lends a hand to Ovide for his "Pro-Life" stance in the process (links added):

As you are aware, the Chairman of Cornerstone, Shannon McGinley, has endorsed Ovide Lamontagne and serves on both his Women Leadership Team and Hillsborough County Leadership Team. Additionally, the Chairman of Cornerstone hosted an event for Lamontagne at her house, and just today Shannon posted on her Facebook page the following statement:

“ Ovide Lamontagne for U.S. Senate!! He shares my passion for the sanctity of human life at all stages or status and embraces the sanctity of marriage and that all children deserve a mother and a father.”

To claim that we are coordinating with an organization that is led by someone who is actively working against our campaign is not only illogical, but untrue. The facts in this case do not indicate any campaign is coordinating with Cornerstone or the National Organization for Marriage.

One could caustically ask:

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Updated and bumped: we have a partial video of the event: a question asked of missing Kelly Ayotte.

(H/T: Tom)

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Guest post by Matt Simon (cross-posted from NHinsider)

Until Wednesday night, Sandown was one of those sleepy New Hampshire towns I had heard about but never actually visited. What finally drew me to Sandown was my desire to witness a long-standing, almost legendary tradition in New Hampshire politics: the Sandown GOP Senate candidate forum. Five candidates were confirmed well in advance (the four major candidates plus a very annoying chap called Dennis Lamare), and expectations were high for a serious forum allowing voters to ask questions of the candidates.

New Hampshire politics at its very finest, right? Well, I for one was kind of excited, so I decided to make the trip and see for myself rather than simply watching on community access TV along with thousands of voters around the state.

Unfortunately, two candidates, the two so-called "front-runners," decided at the last minute to ditch the Sandown debate, leaving voters to hear only from the two candidates who have actually shown they are capable of meeting voters face-to-face and winning their support. Jim Bender and Ovide Lamontagne both looked and sounded like…

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Update:Well, THAT was quick! I just got polled – a lengthy one – by Kelly’s campaign via the Terrence Group out of Texas (I believe). Certainly, Brooks wasted NO time in getting this done!

"You want a legal question, I call a lawyer. I’m not a lawyer." – I guess this is a general purpose line from Mr. Binnie – he’s actually done so and it is turning out to be SUCH a hoot!  Here’s Cornerstone’s new ad:

Drew Cline’s blog broke the story and I nearly bust a gut reading the "official" Letter from Mr. Binnie’s lawyer he posted up.  It scolds the Ayotte campaign for colluding with Cornerstone (Really? Cornerstone is a "shadowy organization"?  Somebody isn’t getting out much lately, are they?) on a "smear" of poor Mr. Binnie as he crows about these "demonstrated links".  Yeah, that amount of proof and a buck will get me a donut.

You know something? The real problem is that Mr. Binnie is rather upset that somebody decided to simply quote him. To challenge him. And I guess he has found his own words to be upsetting, less than of sterling quality in that it spoils his narrative.

Of course, when he said "I’d just call a lawyer", he was talking about a totally different topic (er, the Constitution?). It certainly seemed at the time that Mr. Binnie did NOT like being challenged for something HE said. Let me put up this reminder:

At the time, I heard the phrase "thin skinned" from the audience behind me at this micro-meltdown; after all, it really was an unforced error – NO one put him on the spot, twisted his words, or took him out of context concerning this most basic Constitutional issue.  Yet, a mild challenge from the Moderator gave us the first temper tantrum of the silly season.

Seems like this may be an on-going issue and that he has NOT learned the "Internet Lesson" – speak and act like you are…

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From this  Conservative’s view, this seems to fit well; from Kevin Landrigan’s column of last Sunday, this caught my eye:

Binnie is socially moderate on abortion rights and related issues and if those dominate, he could get turned a shooting star that burns out fast, Scala continued.

"In some ways, Binnie is a throwback to the country club Republicans who ran New Hampshire for generations, very wealthy Northeasterners who worried about the bottom line but didn’t care much about social issues," Scala continued.

"Ayotte could win this race if she turns Binnie into a country club Republican and she convinces voters that she’s a Sam’s Club Republican because that’s where the mainstream of the party is."

On one level of reality, Binnie can’t shake the country club tag.

He owns one.

Like I said, I’ve been out on biz travel, so I’m still paying catch up here and will be most of the week (there are a NUMBER of things I want to post up on but have not had the chance to do so – yet).  This was one – part of the separation between the candidates.

If there is a bigger split within the Republican Party right now, it is the faction with the money (aka "The Country Clubbers") and those more concerned with First Principles (the Conservatives).  I have no problem with Binnie and his money – we ALL should be so skilled to have earned what he has (and while luck can play a role, Luck helps those that are prepared for its visit).  Given his biz success, he (and Jim Bender) have the absolute right to tout their accomplishments.

But if you listen to the majority of the …

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Those that came (in order of the straw vote results – after a while, alphabetical order just gets old….):

• Ovide Lamontagne: 109
• Jim Bender: 74
• Bill Binnie: 10
• Dennis Lamare: 4
• Chris Booth: 2

The videos!

Ovide Lamontagne

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