Roll Call Examines Why The NH-GOP is Such a Mess

Roll Call has an article that will be making the rounds.  According to some people from around the Republican firmamanet…

The Granite State’s political infrastructure is “a mess,” complain out-of-state GOP consultants, and the state has become an increasingly difficult place to run campaigns.

The article goes on to observe some coincidences with problems in the national party, problems with turnover in the party structure itself, and in the control of the legislature.  It then quotes “Tea Party Critic” Fergus Cullen, which I suppose makes sense because he happens to be one of the GOP “experts” at standing idly by while New Hampshire turned Purple, or is it Blue?

Cullen thinks 2010 was an outlier that can’t be duplicated. While Jack Kimball, whom I suppose we could identify as a ‘Fergus Cullen Critic,’ believes those voters could be inspired to turn out for the GOP again.

Meanwhile, top recruits are waiting for a better sense of the national political landscape before jumping into a 2014 race for House or Senate. New Hampshire Republicans struggle as the local party out of power — with fundraising, and most of all, with the chasm between the tea party and the more traditional GOP establishment in the state.

Longtime Granite State Republicans blame the tea party for hurting the GOP’s brand with independents. And the tea party activists blame the party elders for exclusion.

This factionalism led to upheaval at the party’s helm. Party chairmen and executive directors come and go (or are sometimes outright ousted), which means various officials and operatives are pitted against each other about once a year.

The state party, as defined by its platform, is a pro-liberty, Conservative vehicle.   It is the establishment that has chosen to ignore that in pursuit of other things.  And one of those things is the affection of the national party, which has wandered even further off the reservation.  So the conservative and Libertarian arms of the party differ primarily because the establishment Republicans are behaving more like Democrats.

The article then visits the challenge Jennifer Horn faces in sorting this all out, with observations about whether Senator Kelly Ayotte will provide some much needed foundation, then finally arrives at what I happen to think is the biggest issue we face as a party.

The First in the Nation Primary.

Roll Call observes…

Aside from these internal clashes, what hurts the party most is what the state fights so hard to keep: its first-in-the-nation primary placement on the presidential nominating calendar.

In 2016, national Republicans will host their third nomination battle for the White House in as many presidential cycles. As a result, the local GOP’s most talented political staff spends at least two years of every cycle working against one another on presidential campaigns.

I have suggested that the internal clashes are a feature, not a bug of the FITN primary, when it comes to Republicans.

I will tell you that I think the obsession with New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary is a debilitating albatross that keeps the well heeled backroom establishment folks (and their rising camp followers) on the invite lists to all the best parties with all the right people, but does little or nothing to help us raise more money to elect Republicans in New Hampshire–which, if I am not mistaken, is the actual point of the state party in the first place.

Sure, we get to fill hotel rooms with campaign staffers and media hacks for a few months, and the sunlight shines a little brighter on the words of every political pundit or diner occupant with two thoughts to rub together (including myself), but if that doesn’t help us raise more money or elect more Republicans in New Hampshire, we are nothing more than quadrennial reality show rejects chasing photo-ops and hand shakes for our scrap-books and Facebook pages, for no tangible long term advantage.

The FITN is like the Oscars for the consultants and experts who launder money for the National Party and who stand guard at the gated community where all the big check writers reside, except that the after parties come before the awards, and you need to know people to get taken seriously.  None of which consistently adds money to the party coffers or results in more Republicans getting elected down ticket.

So the chasm between real Republicans and the modern establishment or Progressive Republicans is a matter of party before principle.  The party wants to win regardless of principle so it is all about connections, control, influence, and even acting like a Democrat if that is what is required to win elections, even though it doesn’t win elections. 

Platform Republicans, Libertarians, Conservatives, (The so called Tea Party folks), view that as detrimental to the idea of Republicanism, liberty and personal responsibility–Freedom.

You want to bring us together?  Stop acting like you would trade your country (or your state) for a few pieces of silver.

You are reading  "Roll Call Examines Why The NH-GOP is Such a Mess"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Adventures in Babysitting

J.Robert Smith has a good article at American Thinker on Republicans taking back the tax issue, and that is certainly true,  but there were two things in particular that stood out to me…

First, the current US tax code consists of almost 74,000 pages.  (What the…)

Second, on one of those pages can be found this. (paragraphs appear here in reverse order from the IRS code for the sake of continuity)

Babysitting.  If you babysit for relatives or neighborhood children, whether on a regular basis or only periodically, the rules for childcare providers apply to you.

Childcare providers.  If you provide childcare, either in the child’s home or in your home or other place of business, the pay you receive must be included in your income. If you are not an employee, you are probably self-employed and must include payments for your services on Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business, or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), Net Profit From Business. You generally are not an employee unless you are subject to the will and control of the person who employs you as to what you are to do and how you are to do it.

(What the ² … )

SB 0120 - Bride of HB 1704 (2012) Political Speech For The Privelaged Few Makes A Come-Back

SB 0120, sponsored by three New Hampshire Senate Republicans, a House Republican and a House Democrat, is nothing more than the free speech killing bride of the amendment to HB1704 proposed last year.

It is the same language, placing the same similarly complex, overly demanding, ambiguous bureaucratic horse collar on political speech, which last May prompted me to ask...

How does one define the “value” of the ‘distribution’ of the speech for the purpose of determining the need for compliance, and therefore registration; and then jumping through hoops to exercise your right to free speech? 

(and) Using the internet as an example, how do we prevent lawsuit-filing opponents from manufacturing complaints of violations–simply to intimidate or stifle speech by ensuring it (that speech) never happens...

That was just the beginning of the problems with HB1704, all of which have been reincarnated in SB0120. So let's get this out of the way right now.    I don't care what 'good' you think you will be doing by sponsoring, supporting, or passing this bill.  It will, intentionally or not, silence political speech and I can't believe you can think yourselves Republicans while doing it.

We should call it "Clueless in Concord 3."   The Sullivan/Hassan effort was episode one HB1459- 2010 was it?  The amendment to HB1704 was episode two.  And we're back again with SB 0120.

Are you people so disconnected from the real world that you would willingly stifle free speech just so you can pretend that it will make your next campaign journey just a tiny bit easier?   All you are doing is using the police state to intimidate people from engaging in free speech.  Free and Speech, will be hardest hit.

A large number of citizens will not risk engaging in political speech for fear of the legal or financial repercussions--because most of us cannot afford the cost or time needed to go to court just to defend our innocence.  It will be easier to stay silent than risk it.

And who does that help?  It could muzzle all but the most well financed or politically adept, limiting speech to an elite class of organizations and professional aristocrats who can hire lawyers or experts to help them navigate either side of participating in what used to be called free speech.

Professional political machines and well-connected politicians will use the law to silence any and all political dissent if they think they can, and will do so when it matters most--when people are actually paying attention.

The left leaning press will continue to get a free pass while the predominantly right wing "new media" will likely shrink or suffer in silence.

And has it occurred to you "republicans" that the left in New Hampshire consistently has more money and more groups to fund with it, who will still freely engage in speech (against you) while using ample  resources to find potential violators to sacrifice as fresh lambs for the intimidation slaughter?

Now you might want to pretend that I am overstating the problem, but am I?  Who among you seriously believes that the Democrat party won't use this law, in all its bureaucratic wonder, to their maximum advantage?  Who believes that Republicans won't do the same thing?  And who cares who uses what against who?

If this legislation prevents even one person from engaging in their constitutional right to free political speech because they are not sure if they can speak without running afoul of it, regardless of their message, that is one person too many.  It is too much to risk.

If that doesn't matter to you, then you are an enemy of free speech and a tyrant.

You are reading  "SB 0120 – Bride of HB 1704 (2012) Political Speech For The Privelaged Few Makes A Come-Back"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

A Bump On The Road To Unity

As a Blogger I am encouraged by the calls for unity from the NH-GOP leadership.  But I do not believe they have a clue about how to get there from here.  And blaming bloggers is clearly not the answer.  In fact, it is exactly the opposite of "the answer."  I make that quite clear in the status update I posted on Facebook this morning.

"...the NHGOP is very bad at messaging.  They are terrible at policy support during the session.  They are not aggressive at all when it comes to going after Democrats.  They never use the media resources at their disposal effectively.  And they do a poor job of supporting local candidates.  Meanwhile, 'Bloggers" are doing all of those things...for free.  But rather than thank me for the 1200 articles a year I might write attacking left wing policy, narrative, legislation, or commentary; or thanking me for supporting the platform, conservative principles, good legislation, or local Republican candidates, they piss and moan like children over the fifteen or so articles where I call out the GOP for acting like progressives."

The first step toward recovery is accepting that you have a problem.  The NH-GOP has a problem and it is not bloggers.

Until the NH-GOP accepts that it is bad at almost everything it is supposed to be good at, there can be no recovery.

Now I am more than willing to promote conservative and Republican principles, to provide policy support, promote small government, connect activists to local candidates, encourage discussion and debate, but let's be honest--I already do that.  I've been doing it for years and I do not need the good graces of the NH-GOP to continue doing it.  In fact, I will continue to do it regardless.  But I am willing to help them get on board with what we as bloggers already do and what we can offer.

We offer access and distribution of any message that we all support.  We provide an opportunity to get that message to rank better in search engines so that more people will see it.  We are adept at using social media and getting content on to upper level blogs with even larger, national audiences.  And we do not require a pound of flesh in return.  And the New Hampshire media...a lot of them check in to see what we are writing about.

But be warned. We are not the lefty media.

I, and I believe I can speak for everyone else at GraniteGrok,  am not going to report and support a candidate or idea simply because the party says so.  Principle comes before party.  If you can see your way past that bump in the road then there is hope.

But before we get there, the state Republican party had best give itself a thorough exam, top to bottom, and answer some questions honestly.  The most important of those is...who they are and why are they here?

I'm writing over 1000 articles a year attacking left wing policy, narrative, legislation, or progressive commentary while  supporting the ideas in the Republican platform, conservative principles, good legislation, and local Republican candidates--and I don't earn a dime or spend a dime to do it.

I know why I'm here.  I know why I blog.  Someone has to keep that message alive, try to reach out and share it in new and even entertaining ways.  And to do battle across the blogosphere for the heart and soul of the Live Free or Die State.

If you don't get up every morning and understand that the NH-GOP should be leading that charge in New Hampshire instead of a bunch of bloggers, then you are involved for some other purpose.  If that is true, fine, but have the spine to admit it--and then get the hell out of my way.

You are reading  "A Bump On The Road To Unity"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Wayne Mac Donald ..”People who blog are those who are “ruining” the party”

Kathy Benuck was a delegate at the GOP State party Convention Saturday and has a nice write-up here (LondonderryPatch).  She has some great observations and asks some good questions.  But what caught my attention (naturally) is this…

After the meeting had been adjourned, I approached the outgoing party chairman, and I related that I was highly disappointed that the election results were not disclosed. I asked why they had not been. He impatiently told me that for “unity” purposes, there was no need to give the results of the vote. I stated that it sounded more like “secrecy’ to me, and that perhaps such things had something to do with people losing faith in the NH Republican party. He told me that he was not going to waste his time discussing the vote with me. Oh yeah … and he also said that people who blog are those who are “ruining” the party.

emphasis mine

Note to departing Chairman Wayne Mac Donald…assuming Ms. Benuck got the quote right, and I expect she did, if what passes for your idea of a state party is what Bloggers are ruining, then may we accelerate its demise so that it may be reborn Phoenix-like as something for the good of all Republicans, not just the important ones whose turn it is or who happen to know which hands to shake and which cheeks to kiss.

I congratulate her on her victory but I do not envy Ms. Horn her task if the rest of the old guard is of a similar mind.  Wayne MacDonald just shot Unity.  It is now in critical condition, its chances of survival…unknown.