August 2008 Archives

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:                August 29, 2008
Contact:           Fergus Cullen, Chairman, New Hampshire Republican Party
                        603-225-9341 office, 603-520-5450 cell

 CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen issued the following statement today on John McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate:

“I applaud John McCain’s selection of Governor Palin. She is a young and dynamic leader who has earned a reputation as a reformer by taking on the establishment, and will help Senator McCain bring true change and reform to Washington. Unlike Senators Obama or Biden she has the executive experience which Granite Staters value, as both a highly popular Governor and Mayor. Like most in New Hampshire I am excited about the McCain-Palin ticket and look forward to their leadership of our country.”

For Immediate Release                                                                                           Contact: Press Office
Friday, August 29, 2008                                                                                          703-650-5550

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

From the Citizen:

Republicans talk about victory as they open Laconia headquarters

New Hampshire Republicans spoke confidently of making a political comeback as they officially opened their Lakes Region office Monday in downtown Laconia.
 Sen. John Sununu who is up for re-election and 1st District congressional candidate Jeb Bradley made a guest appearance at the grand opening for the Lakes Region's headquarters at 664 Main St. for Republican John McCain's campaign for President. The facility will serve Belknap and Carroll counties.

"This is going to be a team effort." said Peter Spaulding, a former executive councilor who was representing presumptive presidential candidate John McCain. "We have great volunteers throughout New Hampshire."

There are five other Republican offices in New Hampshire, located in Concord, Manchester, Nashua, Stratham and Lebanon.                       

Sununu was excited about the facility. He exclaimed that the New Hampshire GOP is an outstanding organization and he thinks the volunteers will "get out the vote, get out the message."

The senator claims that Republicans understand the issues and challenges today such as energy conservation and rising taxes. He wants to open up offshore drilling, produce more oil and energy alternatives at home and "keep the money in the United States." "We're going to win because we've got the best candidates," Sununu said.  

Jeb Bradley, who held the 1st District seat in Congress for two terms before he was defeated two years ago by Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, also made an appearance at the opening and said that "Democrats are after our pocketbooks" and that Shea-Porter promoted multiple tax increases because she wants to spend all our money.

Bradley said he is "ready to take back our state and turn it around and make it red again."

[Note: Other NH candidates in attendance were Greg Knytych, Tom Brown, Bill Tobin, Frank Tilton, Karen Brickner,  and Barbara Luther (there may have been others that I have missed; my apologies -Webmaster)

(cross posted at GraniteGrok)

The Laconia City GOP Committee announces it's new website!

Drop by often - Tom Brown, Laconia City GOP Chair, says that it will be changing soon!

If you have questions, email them.

The NH GOP, Belknap County Republicans, and in conjunction with the McCain 2008  will be opening their Laconia office on Monday, August 25th from 5pm to 7pm.  


will be dropping by, arriving between 5:00 and 5:15pm and staying for a while to greet any and all Republicans at the new office.

As part of the opening, Robert Brennan Heuchling is looking for for volunteers to help make phone calls to Belknap County and to go door to door in Laconia and other local towns.   Our biggest push is to have volunteers in here on Tuesday (8/26) and Thursday (8/28) evenings (or during the day) and on Saturday. Stop by for a few hours or for the whole thing, we will have pizza and light refreshments for lunch.

Since all Republicans and Republican candidates are well, please feel free to stop by to leave your campaign literature and signs.  Lists will be available for phone calls and neighborhood walks.

We also have signs, bumper stickers and other goodies to hand out for those that want them.)

Location:

Republican Laconia Office
664 Main Street (next to Barbary Barbers) on the left side of Main Street
Laconia, NH
03246
524-1999

All will be welcome!

For further information, contact:

Robert Brennan Heuchling
New England Coalitions Director
John McCain 2008
Office: 603-369-4972
Mobile: 603-369-7558

For media questions, please either email Mark Hamilton (NH GOP Executive Director) or call him at 603-219-3933.

August 14th, 2008


 OK, I'LL ASK:  If a nationally prominent Republican did what John Edwards has admitted to, would it get the same level of media coverage?

IMPRESSIVE CANDIDATES:  I was one of the crowd of 130 people watching the First CD debate between Jeb Bradley and John Stephen in Ossipee on Monday night, and I have to say both of them were outstanding.  Look out, CSP (who was recently rated among the five incumbents most likely to be defeated this year by Politico)!

Congrats to Henry Mock and the Carroll County GOP for putting on a great event. 

OUTSTANDING REGIONAL COMMITTEE:  Also on Monday, Councilor Ray Burton and I had the honor of doing the ribbon cutting to open the Pemi-Baker Valley GOP's headquarters in Plymouth.  Omer Ahern, Henry Ahern, Lud Flower and the whole Pemi-Baker gang have done a model job of re-starting a defunct town committee, and now they have even put together the wherewithal to open and fund a headquarters to support our candidates.  If there isn't a town committee in your community but you have the iniative and leadership to start one, contact tom@nhgop.org and we will help you get the ball rolling.

LET'S GIVE 'EM SOMETHIN' TO TALK ABOUT:  Bonnie Raitt's got some good licks.  It's her left-wing, blame America first politics I can do without.  But there was Raitt in Concord this week doing a concert to raise money for Jeanne Shaheen.  Some of us recall that back in 2000, when sanctions was the extent of our opposition to Saddam Hussein's regime, Raitt signed a letter in the New York Times blaming the US, not Hussein, for causing the deaths "of over one million Iraqis, mostly children under five."  Does Shaheen share Raitt's blame America first mindset?

AND THE GOLD MEDAL FOR FLIP-FLOPS GOES TO:

For your viewing pleasure, click on the camera guy to watch:

• the Business part of the meeting
• Greg Knytych (NH Senate District 4 candidate)
• Bill Tobin (NH Senate District 2 candidate)
• Vern Dingman (NH Senate District 2 candidate)
• Fergus Cullen, Chair of the NH GOP

From the Union Leader today:

Horn in the 2nd: A new Republican voice

There are several strong candidates running for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Hampshire's 2nd District. The strongest of the lot is Nashua's Jennifer Horn. We cannot recall a novice candidate so clearly ready to step into the job of representing New Hampshire in Congress.

Horn, a former newspaper columnist and radio talk show host, understands the issues of the day very well. And she comes down on the right side of them, too. We found her views to be well-reasoned and articulate. She understands the need to reduce spending and shrink the size of government, and not just around the edges. She is a strong advocate of tackling the runaway entitlement spending that leads to high taxes and slowed economic growth.

On energy policy, she proposes that government get out of the way and let the market solve the supply problem, which is a wise policy. She supports more nuclear power and domestic oil production as well as making it easier for companies to pursue alternative energy sources.

She is adamant that the government must control our borders and win the War on Terror, including its primary front in Iraq.

And she supports term limits, which is the best reform of Congress we could have.

Horn is up against some quality opponents. State Sen. Bob Clegg, though not as conservative, would be a big improvement over current 2nd District Rep. Paul Hodes. Grant Bosse, former aide to Sen. John Sununu, has an impressive political mind. He would make an excellent representative one day.

But for now, Horn is the best choice for Republicans hoping to recapture the seat and send someone to Washington who would represent core New Hampshire values. She is smart, likable, energetic and solid on the issues. She stands the best chance of beating Paul Hodes this November, and if elected, she would vote the way a New Hampshire representative ought to -- for smaller, more responsible government, a strong national defense and low taxes.

We urge Second District Republicans and independents to vote for Jennifer Horn in the Republican primary on Sept. 9.

Date:        8/13/08 (Wednesday)

Time:        5:30pm   Buffet Dinner (Note: this month, the Buffet Dinner will be a fund

raiser for Greg Knytych - a $20 donation is requested)

                6:30pm   Meeting

Place:       Shanghai Restaurant
                331 South Main Street
                Laconia, NH
                (603) 524-4100

 (see map below)

Speakers:

 


Map of Shang-hai:
    (map)

Boston Globe: NH's 2nd CD candidates tackle economic issues
By Holly Ramer
Associated Press Writer / August 11, 2008

CONCORD, N.H.—When Congressional hopeful Jim Steiner attended a recent family reunion, the crowd was significantly smaller than in past years. And the campground where they gathered had far more open sites than usual for a midsummer weekend.

"Clearly, families had to balance the gas costs and their other monthly costs in making a decision whether to attend," he said in responding to an Associated Press survey on economic issues.

Steiner, a lawyer from Concord, is one of five 2nd District Republicans competing in the Sept. 9 primary for the chance to challenge Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes in the general election. Whoever wins will face a nation struggling with high fuel prices, rising unemployment, a housing crisis and other economic woes.

National and state polls show that voters are clearly more concerned about the economy and gas prices than about the Iraq war and national security. In New Hampshire, three-quarters of adults expect the country will face bad economic times in the next year, and 60 percent say they are worse off financially now than they were a year ago, according to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll last month.

Though the candidates generally agreed that pushing the country toward energy independence and helping small businesses are key to reviving the economy, they offered different ideas on how to achieve those goals.

Hodes said the economic stimulus package Congress passed this year provided a small but significant help to working families, and that he supports a second round that would triple funding for a program that helps low-income people heat their homes.

"It should also include investments in job creation and infrastructure, to help build new jobs and invest in the competitiveness of our businesses," he said.

Republican Jennifer Horn of Nashua said she would support "anything that leaves more money in the pockets of those who earn paychecks" but that sending checks to people doesn't address the larger problems. "The real problem here is that Congress failed to act until there was a crisis," said Horn, a former newspaper columnist.

Steiner echoed those comments, saying the stimulus checks helped a bit, but the true solution lies in lowering tax rates so people keep more of their paychecks in the first place. Republicans Grant Bosse and Bob Clegg were more blunt.

"The economic stimulus package this spring gave taxpayers back $600 of their own money. But in order to get it, those very same taxpayers spent millions of dollars so Congress could tell us they were giving us our money back and then millions more actually delivering it," said Clegg, a state senator from Hudson. "This wasn't an economic stimulus package, this was a PR stunt."

Bosse, a former legislative assistant to Sen. John Sununu, said Congress threw money at the struggling economy without lessening the taxes, mandates and over-regulation that slowed it down in the first place.

"This year's economic stimulus package seemed designed primarily to stimulate campaign contributions to incumbent Congressmen," he said. "The first and best step Congress can take to stimulate the economy is simply to get out of the way."

To bring down fuel prices, Bosse, Horn and Steiner said they support lifting the federal moratorium on drilling for oil and gas offshore, building more refineries and nuclear plants and looking at alternative and renewable energy sources.

Boston Globe: 1st CD: N.H. candidates tackle questions on economy
By Kathy McCormack
Associated Press Writer / August 10, 2008

CONCORD, N.H.—The way to ease the pain of high prices at the pump, the grocery store and winter heating contracts is to invest in renewable energy sources and expand oil drilling at home, most of the candidates in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District agree.

But Congress can take some steps in the short-term to stabilize prices or possibly reverse the trend of higher prices, said Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, responding to an Associated Press questionnaire on economic issues.

"Removing speculators from our oil market is one way, releasing a small amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is another," she wrote. She said long-term answers also are required.

"I agree with T. Boone Pickens, a well-known oil man, that this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of," Shea-Porter said. "We must encourage responsible drilling here at home, we must invest heavily in renewable energy sources and we must conserve energy where we can."

Last month, Shea-Porter voted against lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling.

Shea-Porter, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, will face one of four Republican challengers following the Sept. 9 primary.

"We should move quickly to remove restriction on oil exploration in Alaska, oil and gas exploration offshore, oil shale in the Rockies, tar sands in Utah and for other opportunities to increase our energy supply," said John Stephen of Manchester, former commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Congress also needs to extend tax credits for renewable energy and otherwise promote energy independence "by giving businesses and individuals the financial incentive to put renewable energy strategies to work," Stephen said.

Jeb Bradley, who represented the district for two terms before losing to Shea-Porter in 2006, said domestic supplies of oil and natural gas must be increased by allowing exploration in previously off-limits areas such as coastal regions and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"We should proceed with new nuclear generating plants and resolve the waste disposal issue," Bradley said. "Clean coal technology offers promising opportunities."

Among the renewable and energy-efficient technologies Bradley advocates are wind, solar, tidal and geothermal, hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid autos. "A New Hampshire power plant in the Seacoast burns wood, not coal, due to legislation I wrote when serving in the New Hampshire Legislature," he said.

Union Leader: Stephen in the 1st: Finally, a fiscal conservative

In the 1st Congressional District, there is one clear choice for Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who want a representative in Washington they can trust to vote for lower spending, lower taxes, sound economic policy and a strong defense. His name is John Stephen.

Everyone likes former 1st District Rep. Jeb Bradley, who was beaten in 2006 by newcomer Carol Shea-Porter. We like Bradley, too. But two years after his defeat by a fringe liberal, Bradley still doesn't understand why he lost. He thinks it was only because of Iraq. It was because of spending, too.

During his four years in Washington, Bradley had four opportunities to vote for alternative, fiscally conservative budgets offered by conservative Republican backbenchers who were fed up with their party's embrace of big government. He voted against all of them.

John Stephen offers Republicans the chance to send a true fiscal conservative to Washington. If you want to see John Stephen get excited, ask him about wasteful government spending. He hates it the way most Red Sox fans hate the Yankees -- with a genuine passion. He is the type of Republican who goes out of his way to criticize Republican leaders in Washington, not just Democrats, for their irresponsible use of our tax dollars.

That's the kind of voice the 1st District needs in Congress.

As secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, Stephen showed his commitment to responsible spending. He consistently sought to do more with less, and he succeeded. He actually returned money legislators tried to give him, saying he would find ways to spend less. How many government department heads have you ever heard of who asked that their budget be cut, not increased? Stephen did that.

Stephen also supports a multi-faceted energy plan that includes drilling in currently restricted areas offshore; winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; increasing border security; reforming runaway entitlement programs; and cutting taxes.

In John Stephen, supporters of low taxes and limited government have a candidate they can whole-heartedly support. If they want to send a message to Washington that the Republican Party needs to return to Ronald Reagan conservatism, they should vote for John Stephen in the Republican primary Sept. 9.

PolitickerNH:

Knytych running on state spending

By Brian Lawson

LACONIA- State Sen. Candidate Greg Knytych (R-Laconia) thinks the current budget deficit has his opponent's biggest weakness.

Knytych hopes to defeat freshman state Sen. Kathleen Sgambati (D-Tilton) on a message of budget restraint in the race for the district four state senate seat.

 "One of the biggest ones is the spending spree that the state went on; she was in full support of that," Knytych said when asked what is Sgambati's most vulnerable position.

The Laconia city councilor also said that voters are upset over parental notification law.

 "A lot of people are very upset about the deficit and budget issues" Knytych told PolitickerNH.com in an interview. "But a lot of people are also concerned about the social issues, especially dealing with parental rights and the repeal of the parental notification law."

Knytych is contacting voters throughout the district and is hoping to reach voters in the district's small towns.

"I'm targeting the whole district. There are some areas that have a stronger Republican base and in those I'm being very well received in but even in the smaller rural areas of the district I'm meeting with those people and the same is said for the larger areas."

The Gilford Town Republican Committee's next meeting will be Wednesday, August 27 at 6:30pm.  The location is at the Gilford Town Hall (lower level, lunch room).

Our special speaker will be Greg Knytych who is running to unseat Kathy Sgambati (D-Tilton) in NH's Senate District 4 that consists of Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, New Durham, Strafford, and Tilton.  Any one from these towns (or any where!) are invited to attend to listen and ask questions.

If you have any question, please contact Skip Murphy for details.

Just trying to catch up on some things that I didn't have to put up when I ran across them.  This from Betsy's Page is one of them:

Incredibly this man is one of the leaders of our nation. Watch this video of Harry Reid explaining over and over and over again that the United States has a voluntary tax system. Libertarian interview, Jan Helfeld tried to ask Reid about how people feel when their money is forcibly taken away from them to pay for welfare for others, but Reid refuses to accept the premise of the question because, as he repeats several times, the government doesn't force people to pay taxes and that we have a voluntary system. He can't claim that he misspoke since he is quite forceful in his repetition that our system is voluntary. His explanation is that we have deductions for mortgages and medical costs and so the entire system is voluntary. Imagine that.

Remember this as you are filling out your tax forms. The Senate Majority Leader insists that the system is voluntary.

Amazing.

When the Democrats try to demonize John McCain for his ignorance on economics, I hope that the Republicans will blanket the media with this video.

Well, we're trying!

I commented earlier that the Democrats are not worried at all with what they wrought with the latest State budget ("The senator insisted that “new” spending measures added up to “barely 3-percent”, with the rest of the increase caused by “things we had no control over”).

Well, in the same article (Daily Sun, P20), an NH House Democrat candidate was quoted this way:

"Ellen McLung of Gilford — a candidate in House District 5 – got off the best one-liner of the day, saying she was interested in mass transit issues but her home state’s only real example to date is ski lifts."

The problem with her statement is that it may well be true that, indeed, the only places that mass transit may be needed is at the area's ski lifts. Mass Transit systems only work where the population is high density (think large urban areas like Boston and New York City). Even with that as a given, Mass Transit systems are not self sustaining - they continue to operate only with massive taxpayer subsidies that yield a "reasonable" fare per rider.  Thus, many are dinged for the few.

Looking around the Lakes Region, it is clear that this fundamental necessity for success, high population density,  is missing.  In fact, even the Winnipesaukee Transit System own numbers shows that taxpayers might as well give each rider almost $26 each time they get on one of those always empty buses.  It would probably be more cost effective to give out taxi vouchers and let the private sector provide that service more efficiently. 

From the Coordinated Transit Study Final Report:

• A budget of $194,077 per year
• A ridership of 7,566 people per year
• This breaks down to $25.65 / rider - trip
  
• Given an 8 hour operational day, that is only 21 riders / day, or if you prefer 2.5 riders per hour.
• That is out of a possible ridership (as estimated in 2000) of 15,500 living with 1/4 mile of all the stops.

No way that this could be judged to be a successful program (unless you are one of the very few riders that WTS  does have).  It could be said that all that the WTS seems to provide is jobs for the bus drivers and their  management.  And just think of all the carbon offsets that are needed to compensate for burning all that gas / diesel while running empty the vast majority of the time.

The Downeaster, running down from Portland to Boston still requires a taxpayer subsidy of pretty much $20 / rider / trip.  We are talking millions in subsidies!

Once again, Democrats seem willing to provide a solution for which there is no problem.  Once again, they are willing to spend lots of other peoples' money to benefit very few.

Video shot during the June 25, 2008 Belknap County Convention meeting that took place at the Belknap County Complex.  The purpose of the meeting was to decide whether or not to appoint someone to the office of the Belknap County Sheriff, and if so, who?

Length - approximately 71 minutes



If the video does not work with your browser, click here to go to Google Video to watch it.

Well, Rush Limbaugh has made no secret that the purpose of his "Operation Chaos" - having Republicans cross over to vote in a Democrat primary - was to keep the Democrat primary season going as long possible (subscription required, I think) to keep having Hillary and Obama bat at each other like crazed badminton players after a shuttlecock:

So Operation Chaos was born primarily for the purpose assuming Obama was going to be the nominee at the get go of this.  He needs to be bloodied up politically since McCain is not going to do it. Since the Republican Party is not going to be on the field in this way, somebody's gotta bloody up Obama.  The only person that can do it is Hillary, and she can't do it if she's not in the race -- and so the purpose was Operation Chaos was to keep her in the race and to have her bloody up Obama in the process of staying in the race.  I'm talking about politically. 

Well, it looks like the Kossacks (writers / readers at the Daily Kos, the largest Liberal blogsite) are realizing that here in NH in Congressional District 1, they have the same capability, except they want to dictate the outcome of a primary instead of merely prolonging it:

I am wondering if anybody on here lives in New Hampshire's first Congressional district represented by Democrat Carol Shea-Porter.  The reason I am asking is that new polls out show her beating one candidate (John Stephen), but trailing the other (former Rep. Jeb Bradley). 

See Politico

I am thinking that anyone who lives in this district should grab a Republican primary ballot on September 9th and vote for John Stephen, who is almost certainly the weaker candidate. 

OK folks, all you Republicans and Right leaning independents, you now have some knowledge if you do not want to keep Carol Shea-Porter as your Representative. Get out there and vote!

Im really surprised that nobody has thought of this yet on here.  Carol Shea-Porter is probably one of our most endangered incumbents and will need everything to break in her favor to win reelection.  She trails Bradley by six points, but leads Stephen by six.  If she faces Stephen in November, I think she will win.  If she faces Bradley, who held this seat from 2002 until she beat him in 2006, she will have an uphill climb.

We should call this our own "operation chaos", like what Republicans tried to do to us in the Democratic Presidential primary... New Hampshire does have an open primary, so I will encourage anybody who lives in the first district to grab a Republican ballot and vote for John Stephen on September 9th.

Well, it can work both ways...but I do believe that as the election comes neigh, we'll have the better candidates.

More details on the polls here.

From the NH Reagan Network:

TO ALL:
 
Reagan Network is holding an issue forum on Saturday August 9th at the Legislative Office Building (the building behind the state house).  (we had requested Reps Hall and were turned down but LOB will work)

It will begin at 9 and should be over at 2.  Please let us know if you are coming if possible so we can have an idea on how much to get for lunch. (we don't need to use scarce financial resources buying too much food)
 
We will be covering ed funding, the budget, energy, second amendment, family values, respect for life, right to work, nanny state legislation and transportation.

It will also be a good opportunity to meet many of our new conservative candidates, although ALL Republican candidates are invited.  (some of them could use being reminded where we should be on these issues.....)  Please encourage new candidates you know to be sure to come.  We know it is busy election time, but felt this was needed before the primary.  Thanks.
 
Feel free to forward.
 
Fran

To RSVP you can reach Fran at mattwenfran@verizon.net.

UNH POLL POSITIVE NEWS:  Last week’s UNH polls showed both the McCain-Obama and Sununu-Shaheen races to be statistical dead heats, and showed Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes mired in the 40s. The more voters hear Jeanne Shaheen and the Democratic message of high taxes and big government the more likely they are to vote Republican. Jeanne Shaheen spent over $1 million in the past quarter to watch her once comfortable lead over Senator Sununu shrink to a statistical tie at 46% to 42%.

IF YOU GET POLLED THIS CAMPAIGN SEASON:  Have the presence of mind to get out a pen and paper and write down the questions that are being asked, then call our office.  This is especially helpful information when candidates are “testing” issues, like “If you knew Jeanne Shaheen tried to impose a 2.5 percent sales tax on New Hampshire, would you be more or less likely to vote for her?”

JUDGES MATTER:  The scary thing about the recent Supreme Court Heller case upholding the right of individuals to bear arms is that the vote was only 5-4.  Judges matter!  Vote McCain!

THANK YOU:  To the Tobin family of Sanbornton, who recently lent their time, sweat, and property maintenance expertise to spruce up the grounds of our headquarters.  Looks great, and much appreciated.

HOLDING HODES ACCOUNTABLE:  For abusing tax dollars to send more than 1 million pieces of campaign mail.  Video

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A CAMPAIGN SIGN STOLEN?  Check out tolerantliberal.com

HUMOR:  Send your family-appropriate political jokes to Fergus for possible inclusion in a future newsletter, and annoy a mirthless Democrat at the same time.

"Well, the Democrats are now preparing for their convention in Denver, and they have hired the first ever director of greening. They say that this year that everything about their convention will be green, including nominating a candidate who's only been a senator for a couple of years." --Jay Leno

"It was quite a weekend, politically. Yesterday, an estimated 75,000 people attended a Barack Obama rally on the banks of the the Willamette River. ... And if you believe the media, listen to this. After the rally, Barack Obama fed them all with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Amazing!" --Jay Leno

The Democrats continue to raise out of state money from ultra left-wing groups that will serve as the personal smear machines of Jeanne Shaheen and other Democrats in New Hampshire.

The most generous of late have been the abortion rights group Emily's List, $84,731; the left-wing Moveon.org, $47,721; Act Blue, $21,167; and the Council for a Liveable World, $18,632. Citizens for a Stronger Senate, which in 2004 raised and spent more than $11 million to help elect Democrats, gave $18,700 to Shaheen in the second quarter.

Now, more than ever, we need your help in order to combat the smears and lies that will be hurled our way over the next 97 days.