Results tagged “Fergus Cullen” from Belknap County Republican Committee
For any candidate interested in winning elections in New Hampshire, the math is pretty simple. Our state is about 30 percent Republican, 30 percent Democrat and 40 percent independent. Neither party is able to win elections when it only appeals to its own base.
It took huge defeats in 1992 and 2002 for New Hampshire Democrats to figure out this basic math. The Democrats realized that when they advocated for broad-based taxes, gun-control and left-wing social policy, they made their base happy at the expense of having any chance with centrist voters who have other priorities.
So New Hampshire Democrats changed. They became less ideological and more pragmatic. Today, they take The Pledge against broad-based taxes, give lip service to Second Amendment rights, and while they haven't abandoned left-wing social causes, few Democrats lead with them either. The Democrats expanded the portion of the electorate willing to listen to them, and they started winning elections.
After suffering back-to-back defeats, now New Hampshire Republicans need to adopt a similar strategy. When Republican candidates and activists focus too narrowly on taxes and social issues, most of our base wags its tail, but we aren't addressing the top concerns of the swing voters who decide elections in our state.
How much of a disconnect between New Hampshire voters and Republican candidates is there? It's worse than many activists think. According to exit poll data from last November, 31 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of self-described conservatives voted for Democrat John Lynch for governor. In the U.S. Senate race, John Sununu carried men, 53-45 percent, but lost among women, 60-37 percent -- a staggering 31 point gender gap.
Sure, all Republican candidates suffered collateral damage as voters expressed their disappointment in the Bush administration by voting for Democrats at all levels. But it's awfully hard -- no, make that mathematically impossible -- to win elections when we are only talking to base Republicans and ignoring the priorities of centrist voters.
To appeal to a broader segment of the electorate, Republicans need to talk about a broader range of issues that swing voters care about. Specifically, Republicans need to offer positive proposals dealing with education, health care and conservation.
I'm not saying we need to moderate our positions or move to the middle. We can talk about a broader range of issues while still offering conservative, free-market alternatives that are consistent with our principles. But it can't be all about taxes and social issues all the time.
A new GOP agenda for education needs to be emphatically pro-public education and transcend school choice by allowing students to get credit for real world, out-of-classroom learning. It needs to address the affordability of higher education that makes parents worry that even if they open a college fund and put money away, their kid who works hard and gets good grades still won't be able to attend the best school she can get into because of cost.
A new GOP agenda for health care would embrace the idea of universal coverage instead of defending a system in which people without insurance are left to hope they never get hurt or sick, and to go to the emergency room when they do. Republicans should fight for using market competition to control costs so more consumers shop for health care like we shop for other goods and services; Republicans can be for universal coverage and still oppose government as the single payer. Accessibility and affordability are the two health care issues voters care about -- for themselves, for their children and for their elderly parents.
A new GOP agenda for conservation and open space preservation -- which are fundamentally conservative ideas -- gives our party something positive to talk about with voters who have bought the left's theories about climate change and who are turned off by the GOP's perceived indifference to environmental issues.
Just six years ago, New Hampshire Democrats suffered huge defeats. They made changes, became relevant to voters and started winning elections and advancing their agenda on all fronts. New Hampshire Republicans can do the same thing and have the same success -- but first we must broaden our message.
Fergus Cullen's two-year term as chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party ends this month. He can be reached at ferguscullen@aol.com.
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WON'T YOU BE MY FRIEND? As I prepare to leave the chairmanship in a couple weeks, I hope to stay in touch with many of you via Facebook. If you are a user, please become one of my friends!
Fergus Cullen
Chairman, New Hampshire Republicans
It took huge defeats in 1992 and 2002 for New Hampshire Democrats to figure out this basic math. The Democrats realized that when they advocated for broad-based taxes, gun-control and left-wing social policy, they made their base happy at the expense of having any chance with centrist voters who have other priorities.
So New Hampshire Democrats changed. They became less ideological and more pragmatic. Today, they take The Pledge against broad-based taxes, give lip service to Second Amendment rights, and while they haven't abandoned left-wing social causes, few Democrats lead with them either. The Democrats expanded the portion of the electorate willing to listen to them, and they started winning elections.
After suffering back-to-back defeats, now New Hampshire Republicans need to adopt a similar strategy. When Republican candidates and activists focus too narrowly on taxes and social issues, most of our base wags its tail, but we aren't addressing the top concerns of the swing voters who decide elections in our state.
How much of a disconnect between New Hampshire voters and Republican candidates is there? It's worse than many activists think. According to exit poll data from last November, 31 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of self-described conservatives voted for Democrat John Lynch for governor. In the U.S. Senate race, John Sununu carried men, 53-45 percent, but lost among women, 60-37 percent -- a staggering 31 point gender gap.
Sure, all Republican candidates suffered collateral damage as voters expressed their disappointment in the Bush administration by voting for Democrats at all levels. But it's awfully hard -- no, make that mathematically impossible -- to win elections when we are only talking to base Republicans and ignoring the priorities of centrist voters.
To appeal to a broader segment of the electorate, Republicans need to talk about a broader range of issues that swing voters care about. Specifically, Republicans need to offer positive proposals dealing with education, health care and conservation.
I'm not saying we need to moderate our positions or move to the middle. We can talk about a broader range of issues while still offering conservative, free-market alternatives that are consistent with our principles. But it can't be all about taxes and social issues all the time.
A new GOP agenda for education needs to be emphatically pro-public education and transcend school choice by allowing students to get credit for real world, out-of-classroom learning. It needs to address the affordability of higher education that makes parents worry that even if they open a college fund and put money away, their kid who works hard and gets good grades still won't be able to attend the best school she can get into because of cost.
A new GOP agenda for health care would embrace the idea of universal coverage instead of defending a system in which people without insurance are left to hope they never get hurt or sick, and to go to the emergency room when they do. Republicans should fight for using market competition to control costs so more consumers shop for health care like we shop for other goods and services; Republicans can be for universal coverage and still oppose government as the single payer. Accessibility and affordability are the two health care issues voters care about -- for themselves, for their children and for their elderly parents.
A new GOP agenda for conservation and open space preservation -- which are fundamentally conservative ideas -- gives our party something positive to talk about with voters who have bought the left's theories about climate change and who are turned off by the GOP's perceived indifference to environmental issues.
Just six years ago, New Hampshire Democrats suffered huge defeats. They made changes, became relevant to voters and started winning elections and advancing their agenda on all fronts. New Hampshire Republicans can do the same thing and have the same success -- but first we must broaden our message.
Fergus Cullen's two-year term as chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party ends this month. He can be reached at ferguscullen@aol.com.
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WON'T YOU BE MY FRIEND? As I prepare to leave the chairmanship in a couple weeks, I hope to stay in touch with many of you via Facebook. If you are a user, please become one of my friends!
Fergus Cullen
Chairman, New Hampshire Republicans
From the December Newsletter of the NH GOP:
Fran Wendelboe had this to add to the NH GOP Chair race when interviewed by Brian Lawson of PolitickerNH:
Dear New Hampshire Republican:=========================
In the weeks since the election, I have had an ongoing positive and collaborative discussion with former Governor John H. Sununu about the future of the New Hampshire Republican Party and what role Governor Sununu might play as we work to continue the process of rebuilding and strengthening the Party.
Governor Sununu has decided that he wants to apply his considerable experience, talent, and intellect to the job of state party chairman. I have decided to step aside when my term ends in January and support his candidacy for this position.
I have enjoyed serving as chairman, and am proud of the progress the Party has made over the past two years. I was prepared to continue in the position for another two years, and after consulting with many party leaders and activists in the weeks since the election, it was apparent that, absent Governor Sununu's willingness to serve, I had more than enough political support to do so.
Nonetheless, I don't mind being given the opportunity to refocus on other aspects of my life that have sometimes taken the backseat over the past two years. When I became chairman, I was dating; since then I've become a husband and father. I worked nearly full-time as the unpaid, volunteer state party chairman, but with a family now I need to give more attention to my financial responsibilities to others. I wasn't as good a coach to the distance runners I work with at Kingswood Regional High School because I couldn't make all the practices. I realized the other day that I hadn't gone hiking in the White Mountains once this year. So I'm looking forward to having more time for other things again.
I will continue to be active in Republican politics moving forward. What form that will take will be determined in due time.
Highlights of my tenure as Chairman include:
- Despite a terrible national political environment, New Hampshire Republicans gained 17 legislative seats in a year in which Republicans lost seats in every other New England state.
- Ably served as a steward of the First in The Nation Primary, including working with the National Committee on adopting protection for our primary in party rules for the first time.
- Completed the purchase of and transition into a new state party headquarters building.
- Gave the party a youthful face while serving as the youngest Republican state party chairman in the country.
- Placed special emphasis on recruiting qualified women candidates, which resulted in the party nominating a woman candidate for Federal office for the first time.
- Improved and increased communications with elected officials, activists, and the media.
- Stabilized state party finances.
- Modernized our computer and phone systems, and provided health care benefits for party employees for the first time.
- Restored a degree of civility to the discourse between the parties in New Hampshire.
It has been my pleasure and honor to serve you for the past two years, and look forward to seeing you on trail in the months and years to come.
Sincerely,
Fergus Cullen
Chairman, New Hampshire Republicans
Fran Wendelboe had this to add to the NH GOP Chair race when interviewed by Brian Lawson of PolitickerNH:
Fran Wendelboe, head of the New Hampshire Reagan Network, said that she "wholeheartedly" supports former Gov. John H. Sununu's decision to run for chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.
"I've known that his decision was pretty much final for quite some time now and I actually encouraged him to run and wholeheartedly support him," Wendelboe said in an e-mail to PolitickerNH.com.
Wendelboe, who is also a state rep from New Hampton, said that she has been in touch with Sununu and will work to get him elected chairman.
"The Governor and I have had several conversations and emails in the last couple of weeks," Wendelboe added. "I look forward to helping him get elected and assisting him in any way he wishes."
She added, "Remember I had said I really had no intention to run but was keeping my option open. This was just in case something came up and the Governor did not run."
From PolitickerNH:
Wendelboe-Cullen spat spills over into UL comment section
By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter
An argument between New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen and Fran Wendelboe, head of the New Hampshire Reagan Network, has taken center stage in the online comment section of The Union Leader.
The two were featured in today's Granite Status over allegations that Wendelboe is organizing an effort to replace state committee members with conservatives Republicans. It started earlier this week when Betsy Miller was replaced as the chair of the Merrimack County Republicans by Anne Copp, a prominent supporter of the Reagan Network.
"This isn't a fight between conservatives and moderates," Cullen wrote in the Union Leader's comment section. "Most NH GOP activists, including the ones Fran just excommunicated from the Merrimack Committee, accurately describe themselves as conservatives."
Cullen then went on to argue that this is an attempt by Wendelboe to become chairman of the state party.
"No, this is simply about Fran trying to line up votes in her Ahab-like effort to become state party chairman, booting conservatives who don't support her narrow, extreme view of who makes a good Republican," Cullen added. "If only Fran would put as much energy into fighting Democrats as she wastes plotting and scheming against fellow Republicans."
Wendelboe countered that she is looking out for the principles of the party.
"What Fergus doesn't understand is that I am not fighting fellow Republicans, I am fighting for the principles of the Republican party--those enumerated in not only our state platform but the national platform as well," Wendelboe wrote. "Yes, we have a big tent, but those who are ‘out of step' with the platform are the ones fighting to make those who do fully support the platform as the ones who somehow are divisive if they don't abandon the areas they don't agree on."
Wendelboe also said that it was the members of the Merrimack County Republicans that kicked out Miller and not Wendelboe.
Date: August 29, 2008
Contact: Fergus Cullen, Chairman, New Hampshire Republican Party
603-225-9341 office, 603-520-5450 cell
NH GOP Chairman Comments on the Selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain’s Vice Presidential Choice
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 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
I just got the chance to read The Gilford Steamer's and saw the media's take on the meeting, and on Fergus Cullen himself:
Some might think it is odd that the chairman of the Republican Party in New Hampshire would come to a little town like Gilford to speak to a crowd of very few, but for Fergus Cullen that is just part of his job, and, after all, Gilford is his hometown.
Cullen was raised in Gilford and graduated from its school system in 1994. He went on to Yale College and then earned a master's in public administration from Harvard Business School. Since then he has served on many political campaigns serving in such positions as political director, financial director, deputy press secretary and deputy campaign director. His current elected position allows him to use all those skills. Cullen manages an office, fund raises and speaks to crowds looking to form republican groups. He is the second youngest republican state chairman in the country at 35 and got interested in politics very young as well.
"People get into politics because they believe in policy," said Cullen, "and that the ideas or groups that win make a difference."Cross Posted over at GilfordGOP.org; go read the rest!
Last night was the latest meeting for the Gilford Town Republican Committee (new website can be seen here). The special speaker was Fergus Cullen, Chair of the NH GOP. His message was that while the Party in NH took a body blow during the last election, there are real reasons why we should be looking at an upswing. In fact, he had 10 of them! With a nod to David Letterman's Top Ten:
For the webcam video of his talk, click here.
10) More than twice as many people voted in the recent Republican primary than did in the 2006 election.9) The presidential campaign will be competitive. New Hampshire is an important swing state, and much attention will be paid to us. This will help set the stage for competitive races up and down the ballot. We will not see, as in '06, that same sort of "tidal wave" but instead more "equilibrium."
8) John E. Sununu's polling data and approval numbers are solid and improving. He has a 3 to 1 advantage in cash on hand over probable opponent Jeanne Shaheen.
7) The party has had candidate recruitment "coups" in all of the major positions
6) Hodes approval: 35%; CSP approval: 33% (UNH survey)
5) The emerging Democrat scandal over the sale of the state voter files. Look for big news to come soon.
4) National issues are moving our way. With the success of the surge, the Iraq War is secondary. When people worry about the economy, the Republican message beats that of the Democrats.
3) State issues are moving our way. With the looming deficit, and Democrats in charge across the board, Republicans are positioned to benefit. They were right to criticize the 17-1/2% budget increase and were right on their call of using "overly rosy" budget projections. Lynch and his party are very vulnerable here.
2) 2008 is a "change" election. Given the current majorities and the governorship are Democratic, in NH, if people want "change" they'll vote GOP.
1) The Democrat Party has been taken over by the angry left wing. They have abandoned the center, proven by their record of "nanny-state" bills that most ordinary people find overly excessive.(H/T: Doug, for taking better notes than I did)
For the webcam video of his talk, click here.
