In a statement, (Commissioner of Resources and Economic Development George) Bald said: "Based on substantial public feedback, I have decided to withdraw the first draft of the Division of Parks and Recreation's Ten-Year Strategic Plan. There was an impression in this draft plan that a potential strategy would be to divest ourselves of properties. This was never the intent of this methodology. The Division, in cooperation with the State Park Systems Advisory Council, will present a more comprehensive draft plan that makes that clear."
"The state park system is an integral component of what makes New Hampshire special for its residents and visitors. It is critical that we take the time now to be strategic in our thinking to ensure that these wonderful assets are available for our children and grandchildren to enjoy well into the future."
I have an idea for the upcoming draft plan: have the state of New Hampshire help to fund our state parks, much as the other 49 states do.
But that might require confronting Meldrim's Ghost sooner than later, so heck if I know how to fix this in the short-term.
I'd also like to give a little shout-out to the UL on discovering the original draft and bringing it to wider attention. Their conservative bias aside, this is precisely what makes statewide news outlets valuable.
If you haven't read today's piece from Jennifer Donahue, in which she single-handedly signs medical marijuana into law, and argues that the NHGOP, with no incumbents running federally, is in the best position they've ever been, it's worth taking a look.
If only to then note that it's even getting bashed by the other side, too. NewsBusters, of all outlets:
Then there is the political news that appears every day on HuffPo. For example, a straight out opinion was recently presented as fact by HuffPo writer Jennifer Donahue whose piece makes the claim that the Republican grassroots is lining up behind Mitt Romney, forsaking Sarah Palin, for the 2012 presidential election.
Donahue says it's Mitt rising in the GOP and has two quotes in the story to support her assertion. However, there are no names attached to the quotes and no sources for them is given. She has no pundits from the right pointing to Mitt, no party members saying they like him and no seated politicians raising Mitt's banner. She just says it is so and we are supposed to take it on faith. The whole story is thin as tissue paper. It may be true, but we get nothing to make us sanguine of the fact in Donahue's story. Just her assertions.
Yet, Donahue is billed as the "Political Director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics" and sports a journalism background. She may do a fine job for Saint Anselem College, but for HuffPo, at least, this piece is junk.
Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes raised $750,000 in the last three months for his U.S. Senate campaign, NHPoliticalReport.com has learned. This is triple the amount he
raised in the first three months of the year and means he has raised $1 million so far.
Not a bad head start considering the chaos on the other side right now.
NB: The email message from Team Hodes says "more than" 725k, so I changed the amount slightly in the title. Also now updated in Pindell.
Hmmm this poll looks highly questionable. I also highly doubt that Tausch would get 25% in a Hodes match up and at the same time have 5/4 Fav/Unfav ratings. Does anyone really know who he is?
I hope this turns out to be inaccurate, but either way, I think this is a really good time to Act Blue.
More (Dean): Are you kidding me? This is the sloppiest sample yet. Check out the latest version of Cloud Hampshire's Hodes' v. Ayotte sample (from the .pdf):
For the really very reasonable price range of $25,000 to $250,000 Blue Hampshire can provide exclusive access to its opinion-maker administrators and front-page writers.
Of course, to be serious for a moment, no one batted an eye when Lauren Dorgan reported that WMUR's news anchor was working for the gambling lobby, so c'est la vie I guess. Oops. This is what I get for not owning a TeeVee. Mr. Spradling was not employed at WMUR at the time. Apologies to him.
Hardworking Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta manages to put out press release and web ad attacking his Congresswoman at the same time he is unavailable to comment on The Bad Samaritan Bar Brawl, due to being "on vacation."
The Mayor is effectively managing to take an incident I initially had little interest in, and turning it into a full-blown reflection on his character.
...whoever you are, for not letting Palin off the hook for her secessionary connections:
While shaking hands after a rally later that afternoon, someone on the rope line shouted a remark at Palin about the [Alaska Independence Party].
...Palin blasted out an e-mail with the subject line "Todd" to Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and senior advisor Nicolle Wallace, copying her husband on the message (all of the e-mails are reprinted below as written).
"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote.
(Won't let me embed. Someone who knows how should YouTube it.)
Adding: Kathy makes a salient point. In the same time frame, The Mayor comments on Sununu's decision, but is "on vacation" and not able to comment on the bar incident.
This speaks to the kind of communication we can expect from a Congressman Frank Guinta, and ought to be recalled when voters start paying closer attention.
If you listen early and hard, you can hear the sounds of a Director of Politics making stuff up:
If you listen early and hard, you can hear what a party wants. In New Hampshire, Republicans are looking at an opportunity they haven't seen in a long time. A wide open Senate seat as Sen. Gregg exits, an open house seat as Rep. Paul Hodes runs for Gregg's seat, and a seat Republicans feel they can pick up in Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's district.
Add to that the recent passage of gay marriage in New Hampshire, legalization of medical marijuana, and economic pain that is only getting worse as companies let go of hundreds of workers at at time, and you have Republicans seeing red.
But I digress. The point of Director Donahue's latest GOP-handicap piece is to tell the world about Mittens' super secret underground campaign, using the anecdotal evidence of one person:
In discussions with Republican men and women, something has replaced the head shaking of a few weeks ago. The have a reply now. And it has nothing to do with Sarah Palin saying if she runs she can beat Obama. It has nothing to do with her at all.
The word is this: Mitt. Tried and true in 2008, getting comfy like the baseball "mitt."
He's running a quiet campaign, the underground kind the national press is not supposed to notice, but reminding voters he is in the hunt. Romney is living largely out of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
Palin gives teeth to being pro-life, having a Downs syndrome child. This is a possibility every woman thinks about when she is pregnant. Palin has a six month old. AND she is a hunter.
Either Central Casting and Candid Camera have teamed up to trick cable television, or this is the best real choice and the best hidden secret the republicans have made in decades.
...She gives voice to young people and women of all ages.
(Is there a Wiki entry for "Bad Samaritan"? - promoted by Dean Barker)
Understandably, there has been an edit war on the Wikipedia over Frank Guinta's entry. It looks like the bar fight is going to be out of the article, although right now it is in. And the "pay for play" contriversy is also in there at the moment.
Most of the article is anodyne stuff about Guinta delivered tax relief, revitalized neighborhoods, won major awards, etc. and I suspect that's how it will remain right up until the moment he drops out of the Congressional race--- unless of course he stays in it and loses it.
An anonymous user from Manchester has made many edits, and I have no proof that it is Guinta himself. But whoever it is has a strong pro-Guinta bias. There is an interesting exchange on the Talk:Frank Guinta page. I made one contribution to it, but most of it is between the anonymous contributor and someone called "Moboshgu" whose profile identifies himself as "a participant in the Barack Obama Wikiproject"
Why make so much of fragmentary blue
In here and there a bird, or butterfly,
Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye,
When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?
Since earth is earth, perhaps, not heaven (as yet)--
Though some savants make earth include the sky;
And blue so far above us comes so high,
It only gives our wish for blue a whet.
"I am still seriously considering (a run) and will have to step up my efforts now that Sununu is out," Lamontagne, the 1996 Republican gubernatorial nominee, said in an interview. "It is more likely than not that I will become a candidate. It would say it is a 51 percent chance at least."
No way the BassMaster backs out for Ovid of the Mountain. And no way Tausch even understands the whole game.
So it's pretty much a free-for-all now. I will enjoy watching these three beat each other up (though I still half-expect the BassMaster to run for Gov).
Adding: funny how everyone with an interest in the seat was scared to make any firm committments so long as Junior hadn't decided. What does this say about a) their leadership skills, and b) Senior's influence going forward? Compare that, e.g., to the vigorous campaigns of Marchand, Buckey, and Swett during the pre-Shaheen period.
Ex-state Rep. James Ryan, of Franklin, was arrested and accused of stealing up to $11,045 from the Committee to Elect House Democrats.
House Finance Committee Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, said Tuesday that at the end of August 2008, she asked Attorney General Kelly Ayotte's office to check if there were any irregularities in the PAC account.
...Ryan was co-chairman for the Committee to Elect House Democrats at the time he diverted the funds, according to the attorney general's office.
My first instinct on reading this was to re-confirm my plan to give only to individual candidates, but in reality this kind of crime could conceivably happen in any campaign structure.
