New Hampshire

[Fran441]

It was a big day for Democrats nationally on Tuesday but no bigger statement was made than in New Hampshire. Remember that NH was the only state that went from Red to Blue, voting for Bush over Gore in 2000 but Kerry over Bush in 2004.

This year, Republicans in the state were stunned to wake up on Wednesday to find:

*In District 1, Jeb Bradley (R) had been defeated by Carol Shea-Porter (D). Every poll had Bradley comfortably ahead of Carol Shea-Porter who wasn't even the DCCC's choice in the Democratic primary and got no major help from the DCCC during the general election. Almost no one seriously expected her to win this race, it wasn't even supposed to be close.

*In District 2, Charlie Bass (R) had been defeated by Paul Hodes (D) in the congressional race, despite Bass having served since 1994. He had promised to not seek a 6th term when he signed the Contract with America so voters helped him keep that promise.

*Governor Lynch (D) had won re-election by a historic amount, with 74% of the vote. He defeated Jim Coburn (R) by almost 200,000 votes, the largest margin in New Hampshire history. It was the first time since 1912 that Democrats controlled 3 of the 5 most important positions in NH (Congressional, Governor, Senate).

*The Democrats also now controlled the Executive Council. What had been a 4-1 majority for Republicans was now 3-2 in favor of the Democrats. (The executive council provides extra checks and balances on the Governor of New Hampshire, this is left over from colonial times.)

*The State Senate had gone to the Democrats. Republicans had held a 16-8 majority in the State Senate but lost 6 seats giving a 14-10 edge to the Democrats.

*The State House had gone to the Democrats. The Democrats hadn't been in charge of the New Hampshire State House since 1922 but gained almost 90 seats giving them an overwhelming 237-163 majority.

New Hampshire Democrats worked hard for this to happen and while I think the 'Democratic wave' that hit nationally helped us out a little bit, the popularity of our Governor and the work people did on the local level pushed us over the top. I hope the DNC and Howard Dean remember this when they start thinking about putting another Presidential Primary ahead of New Hampshire's. Speaking of which, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced his candidacy for Preisdent in 2008 today and should be up here in the next few weeks to start campaigning. I thought we'd at least have a few weeks off. ;)

[Fellowship]

I give credit to this situation in three ways:

1/3 to Howard Dean for his leadership of the democratic party.

1/3 to Bush for his complete failing to understand at least 1/2 the country

and 1/3 I give credit to people like myself who will consider changing party when needed to put country and fellow american over party.


Fellowship

[shetline]

I spent Tuesday more waving a Paul Hodes sign, not at all realizing that things could go so well. Hodes handily beat Bass, and there I was hoping just to push Hodes over the top. It was nice to be a part of the victory, even if in a very small way.

I'll bet Sununu and Gregg are breathing a big sigh of relief their Senate seats weren't on the line this year. :)

[Aquatic]

fuckin' crazyass New Hampshire. And I can't wait for Gregg to be kicked out, along with Sununu. NH is so weird. All libertarian and stuff. Gotta love those liquor stores on the interstate though. LIVE FREE OR DIE! Well Fran I'll be living in Hampton in a few weeks. (Just got a job in Mass. over the border.) Nice beaches, nice area.

[spindler]

There's a simple rule I use when trying to determine who is right and who is wrong and avoid bias.

The best opinion to listen to is someone who isn't definitely on one side or the other and so has no reason to be biased. For example I like to hear the opinions of a person who uses both Macs and PCs because they can be more unbiased about the strengths and weaknesses of the Mac, since they aren't fully in the cult and don't dislike PCs.

And similarly, independents are a good source to look at for common sense, even though I personally am a Democrat. Since independents overwhelmingly rejected Bush in this election, it gives me a good idea that I am on the right track. It's not simply that he's bad from a Democrat's point of view, he's bad from a common sense point of view.