The chips have fallen where they may and the Grand Old Party is looking less grand especially in New Hampshire. Governor Romney’s loss is not much of a surprise for many given the startling similarities between him and President Obama. Even during the primary many polls showed him losing to Obama in the general election and yet the Republican Party put a great deal of effort into squelching the one candidate who could beat Obama, Dr. Ron Paul.
Supporters of Ron Paul did not forget and when the time came to back Romney in the general election, the votes were just not there.
Both of New Hampshire’s seats to the U.S. House of Representatives were held by Republicans and both were lost to Democratic ousters. One in particular has some interesting numbers to note:
C. Shea-Porter Dem 49.8% 172,356
F. Guinta (i) GOP 45.8% 158,482
B. Kelly Lib 4.3% 14,968
Brenden Kelly captured enough of the vote to deny Frank Guinta another term in office. Had the GOP been able to court more support from libertarians and independents the results may have turned out differently.
Soda Tax seeker Catherine Mulholland won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. With quotes like,“To be addicted to sugar is just as bad as being addicted to alcohol or tobacco,” New Hampshire residents will have another legislator looking to impose nanny-state sin-taxes. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg instituted a ban on super-sized beverages but Mulholland has a different approach, “That’s a great idea, but tax it. Don’t restrict the size.”
Tim O’Flaherty captured more than just the vote this election season. He also captured the attention of bloggers at Comedy Central with an interesting post about running in a race against his roommate Dan Garthwaite. The post became much more intimate with a funny response from Tim indicating that there was more at stake than a seat when jokes about the bedroom were made.
New Hampshire voters came out against the income tax with a majority voting in favor of a Constitutional Amendment though the total fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. The topic shaped the debate with Governor-elect Maggie Hassan vowing to veto a personal income tax and general sales tax as Governor.
With the election over the campaign signs are disappearing like so many political operatives and shadowy money. Now perhaps New Hampshire residents can get back to real, tangible, and productive work and the airwaves will have less negativity spewing forth.
I made a series of videos for New Hampshire Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate John Babiarz. You may not have seen him in the debates with the democrat or republican candidates so if you are going to vote here is a look at an alternative.
This is the main video that ties them all together:
While the news is flooded with election coverage, the Free State Project is making waves.
Yahoo News, CNN and blogs are heating up with a story about how much pull liberty activists in New Hampshire are going to have over the swing state. And its no wonder when you have quotes from President Obama like, “You guys are the epicenter,” he said. “You not only determine who our nominees are, you determine who our presidents are.”
Even sites like Politico.com are playing up the prominence of the Granite State’s sway with quotes like this:
“These four electoral votes right here could make the difference,” Obama warned the small crowd gathered at a Teamsters Hall, his first stop in the state. “We don’t know how this thing is going to play out.”
The free state of New Hampshire is home to more than 1100 liberty lovers many of whom are donating time to local and national campaign efforts. Motivated partly by a desire to effect positive change and perhaps partly to disprove critics — including this 26 page booklet — the activists are having a dramatic effect.
With only days left until election madness ends, calls are being put out for any amount of last minute help. Campaigns of all colors are requesting more volunteers to make phone calls and remind like-minded countrymen to “get out and vote” or canvass yet another sought after district. A sprint to the finish.
As with each of the last elections, this one begs to be the “most important election yet” and it won’t take no for an answer. If the amount of political ads doesn’t convince you perhaps their tone will.
The Washington Post has a webpage devoted to tracking the spending race that is occurring behind the scenes and the numbers are staggering. The graph shows more than $700 million spent on television advertising with nearly 90% of that spent on negative advertising. Is that enough of a market signal for you? To reiterate, 9 out of ten times you will see an ad that asks you not to vote for the other guy instead of an ad that promotes the benefits of why you should vote for this guy.
Perhaps the reason for the trending success of the liberty movement is the alternatives offered. Perhaps the public is fed up with only two choices. Tuesday will bring resolution to the clamor and with luck a moment of peace and quiet.
Amanda thanks the donors for this year’s Thanksgiving charity drive. She also gives a history of Shire Sharing and how it all began. Visit ShireSharing.org to learn more and find out how you can help!
