DESPERATE DEMOCRATS: THE SHRILL KATHY SULLIVAN

On Tuesday, May 4 Kathy Sullivan, former New Hampshire Democratic Chair, treats us to an Opinion Editorial telling readers that a surprise awaits in the election this fall in the first congressional district.  In advancing her view, Sullivan treats readers to a monotonous, technocratic hack-laced analysis with obscure media bytes, cherry-picked statistics and contorted assertions.  As I painfully read this op ed, the first question that came to mind was, "who is the audience?"  It certainly was not the voting public.  The average person would have more fun watching paint dry than reading such prattle.  It becomes clear that Kathy Sullivan is reflecting the frustration and desperation of her beloved party being in big trouble.

 Sullivan waxes on 809 words long (though it felt like 1,618) to convince the audience that, " When the dust settles in November, the state and national Republicans who once thought this race was a(sic) likely pick up are going to be left scratching their heads.."  As I read that statement, I could picture Kathy Sullivan pointing her finger at me and speaking sharply....Shrill..  Like her Sunday appearance on WMUR's New Hampshire Close up where she increases her decibel level, bounces up and down, bobbles her head and points her finger at Republican Analyst Dave Carney to shout him down..

The 809-word op-ed is a clear sign of desperation for the Democratic Party.  first, The focus of her wordsmithing centered on attacking the field of Republican candidates in the First Congressional District, rather than the advancement of ideas. Second, she only inked a grand total of 148 words that tepidly focused on virtues of Carol Shea-Porter.

Liberals like Kathy Sullivan write people off as uninformed, stupid or not paying attention.  Yet, with the economy in the tank, Congressional passage of Obamacare against the will of the people who voted for Shea-Porter, the arbitrary tax hikes, and the massive expansion of government into the lives of citizens, people are angry.  This president and this congress have created an epic deficit, making George Bush look like a piker.  And Kathy advances a technocratic analysis of polls?  Another example of "Nero fiddling while Rome burns" to use the colloquialism.

If Kathy had not cherry-picked select morsels from Andy Smith's UNH Survey Center, she would clearly see that Carol Shea-Porter when matched up against the virtually unknown in the Republican candidate field, Shea-Porter loses! At the end of the day Kathy Sullivan joins the ranks of other desperate shrill Democrats feeling panicked at the current state of the political climate. Thanks for the laughs, Kathy.

Comments

[Jeff Kassel]

The core problem with Kathy Sullivan is she's a strident, obnoxious x#!**itch. The Democrats did well despite her, not because of her. And you're right, people are very very angry at how their tax money is being squandered. Democrats are going to have a hard to getting re-elected after abusing the hell out of taxpayers. Jeff Kassel

[Jeff Kassel]

Sorry Typo....should read "Democrats are going to have a hard "time" getting re-elected after abusing the hell out of taxpayers."

[Steven J. Connolly]

Welcome to NH Insider.

I actually enjoyed reading this editiorial and some of the questions that it asked. The best one being: Why is Sean Mahoney running for office?

And why is this. It's already a crowded Republican field I haven't sensed from the onset that Mahoney has any real coherent, stable campaign issues other than to, as Ms. Sullivan suggests, to go negative against the other candidates which at this point have advantages in both fundraising and organization.

How Mr. Mahoney can justify pouring in his own funds into his campaign with this as a background is a question is well. All I can think of is a known statement about being wealthy "It's one thing to make the money, it's another to hang on to it."

This isn't a defense of either the Democratic Party or the general attitude of Ms. Sullivan which is abrasive. But I do think that this editiorial does point out a structural problem with the strategy of the NH Republican Party and its candidates for office. And its an attitude which is summed up like this.

Pay to Play.

[greg griebel]

"Second, she only inked a grand total of 148 words that tepidly focused on virtues of Carol Shea-Porter."

How the heck did she come up with this many words regarding CSP's virtues?

[Rick Olson]

Steve:

Thanks for that and I agree with your analysis. Yet, I am not so sure the problems Kathy outlined are exclusively the purview of the Republican Party. It apeared to me at first blush the article was a bit "cut and paste", just add opposition party in the blanks. And Kathy did get creative with the polling data...others call it "lying" LOL

Oh, and Jeff Kassel....I'm a HUGE fan of "Lets Get Small" What a cool show!