New Hampshire

New Hampshire Republicans War On Young College Student Voters

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The Republican Party is really big on alienating major blocs of voters with their narrow minded views on social issues and on economic issues, but now they are starting a “war” against college students and young people generally by attempting in New Hampshire to prevent them from voting in local elections and in state primaries and elections unless their parents become citizens of the state!

The argument used is that a majority of college students tend to be liberals and Democrats because they allow their “feelings” to govern their minds, and that they lack life experience, which apparently would make them Republicans and conservatives!

What an insult to young people, stereotyping them and trying to deny them the right to participate in elections where they live, working against the idea of voter participation as provided for in the 26th Amendment in 1971!

And the idea that most young people and college students are liberals is far from the case, as many young people were seen at the CPAC convention in Washington, DC, and there are indeed many young people who ally with conservatives and Republicans!

And to say that people vote their feelings is nothing new, as ALL voters do that! Could it not be possible that many young people, however, are not as selfish, self serving, and greedy as older voters, and actually care about more than their own self aggrandizement?

The Republican Party is giving more evidence every day that they are anti democracy and anti people! What else do people have to know to realize that the GOP is not the party of the people, but rather of the special interests?

New Hampshire Straw Poll And Mitt Romney: Sign Of Trouble In Midst Of Winning?

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican so called “establishment” candidate for President, who would, in theory, based on party history, be seen as the likely front runner to be the next GOP nominee, seemingly had good news this past weekend, as he “won” a New Hampshire straw poll conducted by that state’s Republican party, a full year before the New Hampshire presidential primary that, in theory, he should win handily.

But upon second thought, is his win a good sign? No, in actual fact, as the New Hampshire Republican Party has chosen a Tea Party favorite as its state party leader, and the Tea Party activists are no fans of Mitt Romney.

It is however, interesting, to notice who received votes in that straw poll in New Hampshire. Romney was way ahead with 35 percent of the vote, with Texas Congressman and libertarian and Tea Party favorite Ron Paul second with 11 percent, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty 8 percent, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin 7 percent, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann at 5 percent, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint also 5 percent, and others even lower.

When only Tim Pawlenty is the other mainstream Republican who scores in the straw poll, and all the others are Tea Party favorites, that makes one realize that New Hampshire might very well become the center of a right wing radicalization of the GOP for the Presidency, with the Tea Party leader in New Hampshire making clear that mainstream Republicans are persona non grata! 🙁

If that is the case, then Mitt Romney has a lot to worry about, because if he cannot count on New Hampshire, then his candidacy is a losing cause in 2012!

The Silly Season: Rudy Guiliani Running For President Again?

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This has been a really crazy week, with suggestions that four new names should be added to the list of potential Republican nominees–Jon Huntsman, Jeb Bush, Michele Bachmann, and Donald Trump.

But now the ultimate crazy suggestion has cropped up–former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani! 🙁

What a preposterous idea, that the former Mayor, who has been out of office for a decade, flopped dramatically in the 2008 Presidential campaign by failing to win Florida, and has contributed absolutely nothing to politics except his big ego and ambition and more and more stupid statements, seems to think that magically he can utilize September 11 as his campaign issue after it has already failed once!

Trying to claim that his so called “moderate” views on gay rights and abortion give him a counterweight against other much more conservative candidates, is clear evidence that Guiliani lives on some other planet!

To believe that the Republican Party will nominate a person with his views shows he does not know or understand the impact of the Tea Party Movement, which already is a threat to moderates in the Senate and to Mitt Romney, arguably the front runner at the moment in the Republican race.

Romney is way ahead of everyone by far in the polling of the New Hampshire primary, and yet he has a lot to overcome to be the GOP nominee.

So Guiliani is living in “LA LA LAND” if he hallucinates enough to believe he will be the GOP nominee in 2012!

The suggestion of the author to Rudy is “Get a life”! 🙁

The Ultimate Battleground For The 2012 Presidential Election: The Midwest!

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As a result of the Midterm Elections of 2010, it is becoming clear that the 2012 Presidential Election will be ultimately decided in the Midwest, an area of the country suffering more heavily from the Great Recession, and also an area that is losing a significant number of seats in the House of Representatives reapportionment that will take place, as a result of the Census of 2010!

Even though the Midwest is losing electoral votes because of a smaller relative population as compared to the growing Sun Belt, it still contains states that are among the top ten states in population plus others that are in the next ten states in population!

It is also an area that can presently be described as “purple”, rather than “blue” or “red”, but has moved in the direction of the Republican party in the midterm elections due to the economic hard times and the tendency to blame the party in the White House for the poor economic conditions!

With all of the key Midwestern states electing Republican governors except for Illinois, and many state legislatures and House seats going over to the GOP, it poses a massive problem for the Democrats and President Barack Obama as they look at the electoral scene for 2012!

However, two of those states historically are particularly crucial in a Presidential election–Ohio and Missouri!

Ohio has been the decisive state for the Republican Party, as every Republican President since the first one, Abraham Lincoln, to the last one, George W. Bush, has won Ohio! At the same time, it means that if Ohio goes to the Democrats, as say Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008, the chances of Gerald Ford and John McCain were therefore dashed!

Missouri, if anything, has been the true bellwether state, as every single time since 1900, except 1956 and 2008, the winner of Missouri has become President! And even Dwight D. Eisenhower came close to defeating Adlai Stevenson in Missouri in 1956, and Barack Obama came extremely close to defeating John McCain in Missouri in 2008!

Since the Atlantic Coast of the nation–New England and the Middle Atlantic–is seen as solidly Democratic except maybe for New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and the Pacific Coast also seen as solidly Democratic, while most of the South, maybe all of it including Florida, Virginia and North Carolina, are seen as solidly Republican next time, and much of the Mountain West and Great Plains also solidly “red”, it will be the Midwest which will decide the electoral winner again next time!

So the Democrats and Barack Obama will have to make inordinate efforts to appeal for support in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and cannot afford to lose much of this area if the party and Obama are to win in 2012!

That is one of the reasons why the Democratic Party is planning its national convention in the Midwest in 2012, with St. Louis, Cleveland, and Minneapolis as the key competitors for that honor!

So despite declining population percentages, the heartland of the nation again will be the central focus in the upcoming national elections in 2012!

The Iowa Presidential Caucus Of 2012: A Battle Between Mike Huckabee And Sarah Palin?

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is seen by many observers as having an edge to win the Iowa Presidential caucus if she decides to enter the Presidential race.

With her strong support among evangelical Christians and conservative Tea Party activists, it is feared among mainstream Republicans that she would get an early boost in financial support and media exposure if she was to win the first test of voters in that crucial midwestern state.

But if one thinks back to the 2008 Iowa caucus results, the realization is that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, himself an ordained Baptist minister, won that contest over John McCain and Mitt Romney, even though he floundered after that victory.

So if both of these former Governors and Fox News Channel employees decide to compete in this contest, along with many others, it is far from certain that Palin would indeed have an edge to win Iowa!

This far ahead, there is no way to forecast how the caucus would turn out, and remember, it is NOT a guarantee that winning the Iowa Presidential caucus would be the first step toward the nomination of the Republican Party for the Presidency of the United States! It could just be gaining headlines and attention that disappears once the New Hampshire primary takes place!

Obama Plan For $30 Billion Investment To Community Banks For Small Business Growth And Senator Judd Gregg

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Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, who at one point considered becoming Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration, has turned totally against the President, now being critical of the President’s plan to invest $30 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds in community banks, rather than the large banks, to help promote small business loans that would lead to creation of jobs and the revival of the American economy.

Since small business employs about half of all workers in the nation, and since we have a severe jobs crisis, it makes sense to invest in small business loans through local and community banks.

And yet, Judd Gregg, who used to be seen as moderate and sensible, decides to issue a cheap political attack to promote the Republican cause, forgetting that it was the Republicans who put us in this economic mess!

I say everyone should condemn Judd Gregg and call upon him to stop his ridiculous attacks on President Obama, and work with him to solve the economic crisis!