As for the Republican candidates in the upcoming election, he was asked about the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Judd Gregg, and whether he would involve himself in the decision of who runs — his son, John E. Sununu, who was a U.S. senator until he was beaten by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in 2008, or Kelly Ayotte, the Republican attorney general who's been rumored as wanting to run.
Asked if he will get involved as GOP chairman with who runs, Sununu said, "I will use my warmth and charm to make sure that if there is a primary, it is a constructive primary, or if a primary can be avoided, I will do that."
He indicated that if his son decides to run — a decision the father expects within a week or so — Ayotte will step aside.
"I think, if my son runs, there will not be a primary," he said.
Portsmouth Herald: GOP Boss Sununu: Democrats sold out
Paul Briand 6/26/09
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090626-NEWS-906260395
Ex-governor blames state budget and gay marriage on Legislature serving special interests
PORTSMOUTH — John H. Sununu, former Republican governor and current chairman of the state GOP, said Thursday the state budget passed by the Legislature this week is a deliberate step by Democrats toward a state income tax.
And, he said, the time the Legislature spent on social issues — particularly the passage of a same-sex marriage law — is a kickback to "radical left groups" from out of state that funded Democrats' campaigns in 2006 and 2008.
Sununu spoke to the Herald's editorial board about the state of the state from his point of view as chairman of a sagging GOP that was thrashed in the 2008 election, resulting in Democrats controlling the Legislature, two Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a Democrat in the U.S. Senate, not to mention the election by Granite State voters of a Democratic president.
He said his mission as head of the state GOP "is to turn New Hampshire red again in 2010."
Sununu said Republicans in the state — and nationally — didn't realize in the two previous elections that state Democratic committees, particularly in New England, raised money nationally to spend locally. In the Granite State, spending was to the tune of $7 million by outside entities representing what he called "all kinds of radical left groups."
It was quid pro quo, said the GOP chairman, that the out-of-state, agenda-laden money went to the N.H. State Democratic Committee then to local Democratic candidates with the implicit expectation that a gay-marriage bill would be passed.
"I want to bring the state back to that climate where citizens were proud and comfortable being part of government, where integrity was a part of government, and where operating on an agenda meant doing what New Hampshire traditionally did, rather than some kind of national agenda," he said.
"This is a Democratic Party that has been taken over by the radical left and nobody noticed."
He added: "You've seen it on national television on CNN, they come in and they talk about six-by-12: Six New England states with radical gay and lesbian legislation by 2012 including gay marriage ... and they funded it."
The issue of integrity, which Sununu raised frequently during the hourlong editorial board session, applies especially to Democratic Gov. John Lynch, according to the former governor.
He said the governor ran opposed to gay marriage, frequently cited his opposition to it while he's been governor, yet signed the legislation making it legal.
"He broke his word. It's part of the integrity issue that I told you was being undermined in the process," he said.
He held to past public statements that he believes Lynch is "the worst governor in New Hampshire history" and that he should have used the political capital of his high approval ratings — consistently above 70 percent — to make hard decisions about cutting spending. Instead, said Sununu, "This governor is afraid of his Legislature."
Sununu said the $11.6 billion biennial budget also represents an integrity issue in that the Democrats who took The Pledge — no sales or income tax — fashioned a budget that in fact sets the stage for a sales and/or income tax.
"They ran on The Pledge, which has implicit in it the commitment to lower spending and smaller government, and they spend like crazy to create an imperative, by the words of their own Appropriations and Ways and Means chairmen in the House that they want to have an income tax, and that's why they're doing it. So they promise with The Pledge to be fiscally frugal and they put through a budget that will force somebody some day to have to impose that tax," he said.
His said his talking points to Republican candidates in the 2010 election will be the following:
n The Democrats are ruining the state of New Hampshire.
n The Democrats only paid "lip service" to The Pledge and, as a result of the budget, put more pressure and cities and towns, likely forcing them to raise property taxes.
n The Democrats supported gay marriage when they said they wouldn't.
"The social issue incident was a test of honesty that they failed," he said.
As for the Republican candidates in the upcoming election, he was asked about the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Judd Gregg, and whether he would involve himself in the decision of who runs — his son, John E. Sununu, who was a U.S. senator until he was beaten by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in 2008, or Kelly Ayotte, the Republican attorney general who's been rumored as wanting to run.
Asked if he will get involved as GOP chairman with who runs, Sununu said, "I will use my warmth and charm to make sure that if there is a primary, it is a constructive primary, or if a primary can be avoided, I will do that."
He indicated that if his son decides to run — a decision the father expects within a week or so — Ayotte will step aside.
"I think, if my son runs, there will not be a primary," he said.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 09:00AM