Archive for the ‘Political Standing’ Category

Water cooler questions for the weekend

Is Paul Hodes the first campaign since Jim Coburn in 2006 to begin with a negative ad? And is this the earliest we have seen a negative ad rebuttal ad?

For those who point to our scoop of Kelly Ayotte losing her field director as a sign things are going badly, let’s ask this question: which Senate campaign still doesn’t have a field director to even lose?

Months ago this space questioned why there wasn’t an independent FRM investigation given that the Attorney General was investigating its own office. With Executive Councilors picking up this theme this week doesn’t it make political sense to Lynch to appoint an independent investigator and delay removal proceedings until past Election Day?

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John Stephen: The Republican gubernatorial nominee posted a big fund-raising number this week that unofficially ends whatever primary he had and will calm any remaining criticism about his campaign. His fund-raising number exceeded everyone’s expectations and confirmed that he is going to be the first Republican candidate for governor in six years to run a credible campaign. Stephen will never have as much money as Lynch (since the Governor can write himself a check anytime), but he’s going to have the resources for staff and paid media.

Bill Binnie: He’s catching every break and capitalizing on the other Republican candidates’ lackluster campaigns. Now Paul Hodes is doing his dirty work for him by attacking Ayotte on television with FRM ads. He still has a lot of work to do between now and September 14, but prospects are improving everyday.

Kelly Ayotte: There is no need to weigh in on the negative ad war or the concern among Ayotte supporters about this campaign. There are only one name required that gives her an up this week: Rob Varsalone. He has been an Ayotte supporter since the early days, but the fact that he is joining the campaign is beyond huge. He is exactly what this campaign needs.

Dan Eaton:  Continues to walk through the raindrops on the Mark Bodi scandal that he started.

Scott Spradling: His work with NHIS has thrown him into a major sporting event and a major opportunity with this recent Loudon squabble between the town and the speedway.

Sean Mahoney: He had a packed fund-raiser in Rye last night with enthusiastic donors including some who may have previously been with his primary opponents. He is starting to act like a front-runner and there is open debate right now as to whether he actually is the front-runner.

Nancy Stiles: The Republican challenger to State Sen. Martha Fuller Clark is the perfect candidate on paper. Fuller Clark is rumored to have “woken up” realizing this is going to be very challenging. Unless she fights back hard this will be the “sleeper” on election night.

Ann McLane Kuster: Picked up solid endorsements this week.

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Carol Shea-Porter: You never want a story to use the words “Class B Felony”. That is what the National Review accused her of committing when all she wanted to do was send letters to graduating Manchester honor roll students. Shea-Porter’s team argues they followed the law to the T. But unless this gets fixed quickly Republicans are gearing up to make this a real problem.

Paul Hodes: The fact that Hodes had to go up with his own negative ad — for his first ad of the campaign — confirms that the DSCC isn’t willing to help him out (sorry, goofy Facebook pages don’t count).

Frank Emiro: When you are a Republican running for office and speaking in front of a 9/12 group you probably shouldn’t call them “TeaBaggers.” Especially when you see a video camera.

Water cooler questions for the weekend
What was the first thing Jeb Bradley said when he heard Ted Gatsas endorsed Sean Mahoney for Congress and not Frank Guinta?
How much cash on hand does Paul Hodes have?

How many fund-raising calls did Gov. John Lynch make during his eight hours driving to and a [...]

Recruiting Grades
The filing period is now over so how did the parties do?
Republicans, Grade B-. For some races Republicans could not have done a better job recruiting. They were able to recruit Chris Sununu for Executive Council for a seat that could go Republican in a year like this and if [...]

To mark the year anniversary of this website and the end of the Legislative session (except that little special session thingy next week) Political Standing is taking the long view this week. Below is a list of who is up or down politically compared to where they were in early June [...]

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Veterans and our military fallen: On this Memorial Day weekend we honor those who have served and those who have paid the ultimate price. Thank you.
Sean Mahoney: The First Congressional District candidate launched his second of first rate television ads and announced an impressive list of sponsors for his Seacoast fundraiser.
Jeb [...]