Democrats are currently losing both Congressional seats and the coveted open U.S. Senate seat up in November, according to a poll out tonight by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
If the election were held today Democratic Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter would lose her seat to all four Republicans polled, including Bob Bestani, who beats her 36 percent to 32 percent.
Fund-raising trend lines show Bestani now competitive with Guinta
by James Pindell
President Obama’s State of the Union address was familiar to most Americans, repackaging precisely the rhetoric he used during his successful campaign for the presidency. It was completely foreign, however, to the reality of how he, Carol Shea-Porter, and the Democratic Congress have governed during the past year. There is no evidence that any of them have listened to the clear call of the American people to bring about the change we want, rather than the change they have tried to force upon us.
The American people elect a President not to give great speeches or run well managed campaigns, but to provide effective leadership in solving difficult issues of national importance. The sad truth of the first year of his presidency is that President Obama continues to prove masterful at the former, but has been unwilling to focus on the latter.
The Supreme Court today expanded the right of both corporations and unions to directly engage in political speech. While I applaud this decision as an extension of free political expression and a check on self-serving government interference in the political process, I am cognizant of the risks such freedom poses. It is up to the people, not the government, however, to manage those risks.
Every week Political Standing tracks who is up or down in New Hampshire politics. See this week’s list at NHPoliticalReport.com.
Political Standing for Jan. 15, 2010
by James Pindell
UP
Bob Bestani: Bestani faces a.) a bad economy b.) a well known primary opponent with establishment support and c.) another highly credible primary challenger looming yet Bestani exceeded expectations for another fund-raising quarter.
NHBR Article
Flotsam and Jetsam
Friday, December 18, 2009
It’s been making the rounds…
• With Rich Ashooh joining the GOP 1st C.D. race, and with Bob Bestani making some inroads, Frank Guinta’s air of inevitability - if it ever existed to begin with - just went poof.
Yesterday Carol Shea Porter and Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives voted to increase the United States Debt ceiling by $290 billion to $12.394 trillion. In effect, this action increases their credit card limit for wasteful government spending with the bill to be sent to the American taxpayer.
The United States cannot afford the extreme profligacy of the Democratic Congress which has exacerbated the irresponsible behavior of the Congress in past years. Both parties must work together to restore fiscal responsibility and sobriety to the management of our national finances. What we cannot afford is to balloon our national debt to such a significant level that the world loses faith in our willingness and ability to repay our obligations. If they do, the financial crisis of last September will look like a pleasant day in Prescott Park.
Last night President Obama finally gave us his long awaited answer to the question of what we should do about Afghanistan. What the President knows, but did not say, is that the real key to this equation is not Afghanistan but Pakistan. Pakistan is currently the most dangerous country in the world. It is now a highly unstable nuclear power that is rapidly coming apart at the seams. The nightmare scenario is that Pakistan collapses and nuclear weapons get into the hands of Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban.
Chaos in Afghanistan would further destabilize Pakistan. Our presence will help keep Afghanistan together and serves to provide at least a partial buffer against insurgent incursions across Pakistan’s border. It is also prudent for us to be close by in case the situation in Pakistan collapses.
I THINK YOU WILL ENJOY THIS WIDE RANGING DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES. PLEASE PASS IT ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGgrk-O6aw
Click here or go to Video Interviews page.
The decision today of the Obama Administration and Attorney General Holder to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and four other men accused in the September 11 attacks in New York is a serious mistake and establishes a very dangerous precedent. These trials should have been tried in a military court as was originally planned.
We will undoubtedly come to regret this decision. At the end of the process, when multi-millions of dollars are spent on scores of taxpayer funded trial lawyers who will tie this case up in knots and make a mockery of our judicial system, we will wish that these cases had been tried in military courts where they belong. How fitting it is that this announcement was made on Friday the 13th.