On the last Sunday in September, in a front-page article, The New York Times reported that the Democrats’ strategy against Republicans in 2010 would be to use aggressive attacks on personal issues in an attempt to “save” their elections. The Times reported that Democrats across the country have been instructed to avoid discussing their fiscally irresponsible policies, and to run “negative advertising against Republicans using lawsuits, tax filing reports – and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents.”
This is exactly what Governor Lynch and the Democrats are trying to do in New Hampshire. In an effort to change the subject from the disastrous results of his inept spend-and-tax policy and from the debilitating national burden of trillion dollar deficits, the Governor and his State Party have unleashed the attack experts of their political committees to do their usual distract-and-destroy messaging.
We see those efforts in the dishonest phone “push polling” they have started against fiscally conservative NH State Senate candidates. John Lynch himself is running ads against John Stephen that attempt to dishonestly malign his character. In the Congressional races, Carol Shea-Porter and Ann Kuster are using false personal attacks, and in the Senate race, Paul Hodes is trying to smear Kelly Ayotte with untrue distortions.
We must remember, this is the standard procedure of the John Lynch’s State Party since he started running for Governor. Lest it be forgotten, Governor John Lynch won his 2004 election against the then incumbent Governor with a campaign based on extreme personal attacks on his opponent. There was virtually no focus on the traditional New Hampshire fiscal issues of spending and taxes. As usual, in that race, Governor Lynch left the tough attacks to his campaign committee. That allowed him to preserve the public image he works so hard to nurture, and to sound conservative.
In 2006 the pattern was the same. They attacked, and Lynch stayed above the fray. And even in the 2008 Obama big wave election, they kept up the personal attacks on all the opposing candidates. Lynch’s committee operatives honed their skills in those races, and for the most part they were able to maintain the attacks with little or no effective opposition.
Now we are in the midst of the 2010 election, and of course, Governor Lynch and his State Party are at it again. For the past year, every time a credible opposing candidate was announced, the Lynch committee attack crew went to work. They pounced when Attorney General Ayotte announced, and even went on the offensive before some of the opposition made formal announcements. And now that John Stephen has emerged as the nominee for Governor, John Lynch is trying to smear him with dishonest ads. He will use any false accusation to move attention away from the abysmal Lynch record.
In the past Democrats have been elected in New Hampshire by using a two-pronged strategy— by sounding like a conservative and by smearing their opponent. The disastrous performances in overspending, overtaxing, and creating a budget problem at both the state and national level should prove to the voters that Democrats might talk-the-talk, but they certainly cannot walk-the-walk. And when voters hear the bile and venom in the Governor’s ads, in the media, in the mail, or over the phone, they should recognize that it is just the Democrats trying to avoid the issues.
The State of New Hampshire and our country have serious problems. Our Republican candidates are trying to focus on policy changes and issues. Kelly Ayotte is running for the Senate committed to continue the strong conservative approach of Senator Judd Gregg. Our Congressional Candidates have targeted cutting the unconscionable growth of Federal spending and ObamaCare as their first priority. And most important Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta will vote to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. And here in New Hampshire, John Stephen is committed to make the tough decisions needed to fix the $800 million hole in the budget. This election is too important to let the Democrats steal it with dishonest political smears.
John H. Sununu
Chairman
New Hampshire GOP