Debates Set For April

Even before the primary date is set, a set of debates have been scheduled. CNN, WMUR and The Union Leader announced that they are organizing presidential debates for April 4th and 5th. DiStaso, Spaulding and Blitzer will be the moderators. The last debate in NH was before the 2004 Dem primary. That debate took place at St. Anselm College and was sponsored by Fox News, ABC News and WMUR. No word yet where the debate will be taking place, though I'm sure that St. A's, another Manchester site and maybe UNH are all being considered. The debates are a mere 82 days away!!!

Gravel at Darthmouth Tonight

Mike Gravel will be at Darthmouth University tonight. Here is the info:

FIRST UP: former TWO-TERM U.S. SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL (D-AK) with Doris "Granny D" Haddock, NH Political Activist
THURSDAY JANUARY 11 6:30 PM
IN HINMAN FORUM
Public Lecture followed by Q & A

So far, Gravel has registered almost no support in the state. Sorry for the late posting.

Dems Go To Denver

The Dems have picked Denver to be the site of their 2008 national convention. The convention will take place in the last week of August. Also, the GOP is heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul, for their 2008 convention.

Two Firms Fight Over Pataki?

George Pataki is slowly building his operations in the state. Despite ongoing rumors that Pataki is ready to dump Meridian Communications, Jack Heath, president of Meridian told The Union Leader "We're still working with the governor"...He said he will be involved in "media at a high level" for the campaign," but will not be "running every part of the effort." Alicia Preston, former press advisor for Meridian, is currently the spokesperson for Patakis's PAC. On the hand, former Bass staffer Neil Levesque and David Currier, former state rep, haven opened a firm that is also expecting to work with Pataki. The two have opened a political consulting firm called "The Government Relations Group" and Currier said that he expects the firm to work for Pataki. Can Pataki have two consulting groups working for him? If so, it could lead to a situation in which there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Draft Movements Forming

Supporters of Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are expanding their draft movements in the state. Jeff Gulko is expanding his website AmericaforRichardson.org Gulko worked for Richardson in the DOE. Meanwhile, as Obama comes closer to announcing his presidential candidacy, a national Draft Obama group is organizing in the state. In fact, their first meeting is tonight in Manchester at Panera Bread...um, sounds like a tasty meeting.

NH Carbon Coalition

I have added a new website to "Everything You Need To Know." The group is the New Hampshire Carbon Coalition. It is operated by the New Hampshire Citizens for a Responsible Energy Policy. The blog is entitle "A Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change." Here is the site: http://www.carboncoalition.org/blog/

Be sure to give it a visit!!

Dodd To Enter, Obama To Set-Up

Chris Dodd will announce his presidential candidacy tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Evans-Novak Report is reporting that Barack Obama will establish a presidential exploratory committee sometime this week. Obama has visited the state once, while Dodd has been to the state three times.

Vilsack Returns on the 19th

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will return to the state on January 19th. He is supposed to be holding an event in Concord.

2008. That Was So Yesterday

Think all this 2008 talk is getting boring and tiredsome? Check out my new website dedicated to the 2012 presidential race. Here is the link: www.nh2012.blogspot.com I know I am getting ahead of myself, but I am an offical dork with no life.

Gilmore Forms Committee

Today, former Republican Governor Jim Gilmore filed presidential papers with the FEC. Gilmore is a former governor of Virginia. He has yet to visit the state. Gilmore announced his committee by stating the following:

"Today, I filed the papers necessary to explore a candidacy for President because I believe that this nation needs conservative leadership. Alone among those considering a candidacy for the Republican nomination, I have a record of real leadership as a tax cutter and job creator, as a leader on national security issues, and as a national leader in our party. I intend to move quickly to form a national campaign team and to make my decision on moving to a formal candidacy."

Rothenberg Gives Obama A Dose of Reality

Today, The Rothenberg Report had an article that included a dose of reality for Sen. Barack Obama. The article discusses Obama has a "rock star" and includes this paragraph:

"But over time, we will learn more about Obama as a person and as a legislator. Republicans gathered plenty of research on the Democrat during the 2004 Senate race, including his record in the Illinois Legislature, but they never had a credible candidate to deliver the attacks. And its only a matter of when, not if, the media’s glowing coverage will turn into a microscope. No one can maintain this type of positive coverage for the next twenty months."

For the full article follow this links: http://www.rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/

Brownback Operates In Romney's Background

The Primary Source reported that Kansas Senator Sam Brownback has released the names of supporters from the Bay State. These supporters are "social conservatives," who will be supporting Brownback. Here are the names:

-Professor Dwight Duncan of Cambridge, Southern New England School of Law
-Anne Fox of Needham, Past Chairman, Massachusetts Citizens for Life
-Linda Kinsey of North Adams, Past Chairman, Berkshire Citizens for Life
- Carol McKinley of Pembroke; Founder, Faithful Voice
- Christine Milbury of Sharon; Director, Pregnancy Services
-Roderick Murphy of Southbridge; Treasurer, Life-Guard PAC, a pro-life group
-R.T. Neary of Medfield; Past President, Massachusetts Citizens for Life

AMR Poll

AMR released the following poll of New Hampshire voters. The poll was taken on Dec. 26th and 27th. Thus, the poll can be easily criticized for being largely based on name ID and being taken during the Holiday season. In either case, here are the results:

The Dems:
Clinton 27%
Obama 21%
Edwards 18%
Undecided 17%
Kerry 6%
Kucinich 4%
Clark 2%
Richardson 2%
Biden 1%
Dodd 1%
Vilsack 1%
Gravel 0

The GOP:
McCain 29%
Giuliani 25%
Undecided 17%
Gingrich 14%
Romney 9%
Hagel 2%
Pataki 2%
Gilmore 1%
Huckabee 1%
Brownback 0
Hunter 0
Thompson 0

Gregg "In Romney's Camp", Maiola To Drive Winnebago

The Hotline is reporting that South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint is expected to endorse Mitt Romney tomorrow. Gov. Sanford and Sen. Graham are McCain supporters. The article also has this little tidbit: "In New Hampshire, Gov. John Lynch is a Democrat; Sen. John Sununu will not endorse in the primary, and Sen. Judd Gregg is said to be in Romney's camp, although his aides deny that he has picked his '08 candidate yet." The question now becomes, will Joel Maiola, Gregg's chief-of-staff and advisor to Karl Rove, drive the Romney campaign Winnebago?? After all, Maiola did drive Jeb Bradley's Winnebago.

Romney: The $6.5 Million Man

Today Mitt Romney raised $6.5 million in a telephone-fundraiser. That amount is, in part, due to Romney's finance whiz-kid Spencer Zwick and ComMitt, which is a finance software tool. Here are some stats from the event:

-Amount Raised: over $6.5 million
-Calls Made: approximately 15,000 outbound calls
-Volunteer Fundraisers Participating: nearly 400
- Volunteer fundraisers hailed from more than 40 states
-Telephones: nearly 400
-Laptop computers: 320
-Call center area: 37,800 square feet
-42 call centers, each manned by 9 volunteer fundraisers

Biden Courts Shea-Porter

The following article appeared in CQ. Both Mrs. Shea-Porter and Mr. Hodes are being courted by potential presidential candidates. Joe Biden paid Carol Shea-Porter a surprise visit and even waited in her office, until she arrived. Talk about dedication!!

"New Hampshire’s members of Congress will be pretty busy over the next few months as the 110th Congress gets under way.

Still, they may have to clear their schedules every now and then to receive visits from a string of presidential hopefuls.

In fact, Democrat Carol Shea-Porter had hardly been sworn in as a new member Thursday when Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., strolled into her office to congratulate her on being the state’s first congresswoman.

She wasn’t there, but he chatted with a few of her constituents — and potential voters in the 2008 New Hampshire primary, telling them: “You’ll be seeing too much of me.”

When Shea-Porter finally arrived, Biden fell to one knee before her. “I don’t need that,” she laughed. “All I need is a big fat donation to my re-election campaign.”

New Hampshire’s other Democratic freshman, Paul W.Hodes, also is being courted by Democratic presidential hopefuls. About “four or five” of them called, an aide said, within an hour of his election in November."