Monday’s Exchange on NH GOP
May 30, 2009On Monday morning, NHPR’s The Exchange hosted by Laura Knoy will focus on the future of the GOP in NH. The eclectic guests are Fred Bramante, Phyllis Woods, and Patrick Hynes. Bramante, who has some great ideas about modernizing education, ruffled feathers last fall when he publicly announced his support for Obama…after having attended the Republican National Convention as a Huckabee delegate. Woods is emblematic of the minority mindset, more concerned about ideological purity than broadening the party’s appeal and building winning coalitions. Hynes is a conservative who understands politics is the art of the possible. 89.1 FM starting about 9:05 a.m.
dlambert
May 30, 2009
Fergus, you have some nerve bagging on Phyllis as you have here, given the fact that YOU drove the NHGOP bus into the ditch it now finds itself. What do moderate Republicans like you have to offer voters? Slightly LESS socialism than the Dems? Ditching social issues, leaving nobody to speak for important values that made this country what it used to be? When candidates run UNABASHEDLY conservative, they sometimes win- except when people of YOUR ilk tear them down. I am thankful that, other than this forum, you are no longer in a position to further destroy this party. You should do us all a favor and take the final step and skulk away quietly into the night…
FergusCullen
May 30, 2009
Doug - I know the fact that Obama carried every state between here and South Carolina and that Republicans lost 8 senate seats across the country was all my fault, and that despite my best efforts to sabotage Republicans, the party managed to gain 17 seats in the legislature in a year in which the party lost seats in every other New England state. I know that a guy like me who subscribes to the Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard and who works with a free-market think tank isn’t a good conservative to you. But I’m confident that a solid majority of NH Republicans recognize that NH has changed, and share my focus on developing an inclusive, modern, and future-focused conservatism that can win because it appeals to more than just base Republicans like you and me. Here’s Reagan from 1977, when the party was regrouping as it is now: “Conservatism is not a narrow ideology, nor is it the exclusive property of conservative activists. I do not view the new revitalized Republican party as one based on a principle of exclusion. After all, you do not get to be a majority party by searching for groups you won’t associate or work with.”
Dennis Acton
May 30, 2009
The biggest problem we had during the Bush years was the inability to communicate with voters as to why conservative values are better for this country than liberal values. We couldn’t do this because our so-called conservative leaders went to Washington and joined right into the orgy of spending and earmarks while allowing Bush to execute a failed war strategy without question year after year while thousands or our finest came home dead or shot up. It took McCain, who the far right assails to no end, to finally force a change in strategy to save us from a retreat under fire from that region. Dick Cheney continually lied about the war and funneled no-bid contracts to his former company yet he is now he is the mouthpiece of the party. Charlie Bass, Jeb Bradley and John Sununu all took part in taking earmarks and engaging in deficit spending and got beat because of it but now they are all queued up to run again. Those guys have more to do with running the party into a ditch than anyone yet we are going to allow them to take the party back over? All Sununu Sr. has done is fill the state party with minions, allow Bradley to make a comeback via the state senate, and set Bass up for a similar second chance. I hope Republicans wake up and realize this is a surefire strategy for failure yet again. I hope a new generation of activists and candidates will work tirelessly in the primaries in 2010 to make sure that we dont make that same mistake again.
New Hampshire
May 30, 2009
FRED BRAMANTE?!?!?!? Pleeeeze!
Let’s not just listen to RINOs, but let’s resurrect old, liberal RINOs with failed candidacies.
I had high hopes for this website, but now, it’s just like the rest.
Bramante/Huckabee/Richard Haass/CFR — well let’s just hand it over to the socialists right here and now why don’t we?
I’ll take Phyllis any day over this bunch…she at least believes in republicanism with a small ‘r’.
Bramante believes in go along to get along with the liberals. His ideas on education are what is causing us to fail now… sheesh.
JimButtolph
May 30, 2009
Fergus has donated enormous numbers of hours to the Republican party. There are also a many Young Republicans that look to Fergus as an inspiration for being a relatively fresh face on the scene. We owe him our thanks for that. However, to state the obvious, Phyllis Woods and Fergus Cullen do not see eye to eye on the proper direction of our leadership. That’s okay. What, in my humble view, is NOT okay is for a former Chairman of the State Committee to be repeatedly attacking our National Committeewoman in a public way. This can’t do anything but play into the hands of the enemy, and it is deeply alarming that Fergus, who is surely a very bright guy, does not seem to understand this. It’s bad enough to read it here, but what is truly damaging to the cause is to take this to a more public level, such as the article by Adam Krauss in Fosters which was recently published where Fergus rebuked Phyllis for her views on resolutions that were to be addressed at the recent RNC meeting. This sort of public airing of dirty laundry coming from a former State Chairman is frankly inexcusable, regardless of what valid points, if any, Fergus had. This is made worse by the inescapable perception that there is more than politics going on here. Frankly, it looks like Fergus simply doesn’t like Phyllis, and in this world, perception is reality as we all well know.
So it looks like we have a grudge match between our former State Chair and our sitting National Committeewoman, with the former Chair pouring gas on the fire, all done in the public eye for all to savor. Ain’t that just grand.
My advice to Fergus is this: If he doesn’t like the current direction of the National Committeewoman’s leadership, consider taking it up with John Sununu. Presumably, as a former chair, Fergus’s council may still be respected and perhaps to the extend any valid concerns can be articulated, John, as chair, may be able to exert some influence in that direction. I am quite sure that John has Phyllis’s respect. Beyond that, I might suggest that Fergus place his efforts into having his preferred alternative elected to the post of National Committeewoman next time around.
Phyllis Woods was elected to her position by earning the votes of State Committee members of all stripes. She is doing the job the best way she knows how, and as we all know, it is thankless volunteer work. She has earned and deserves the respect of every Republican, especially Fergus’s, regardless of whether one agrees with her on all points. I happen to think she is doing an outstanding job, and on that I respectfully disagree with Fergus, but this is not the point. The point is this: With all due respect to Fergus, he needs to refocus his efforts on Republican team building and stop undermining the current leadership of the State Committee.