Advantage speaker

With his court decision in hand, House Speaker Sherm. Packard has won the battle to hold in-person sessions.

The striking thing is that he and other GOP leaders in the House fought tooth and nail to make sure reps, regardless of any health concerns, would have to attend in person at the NH Sportsplex in Bedford. Nothing virtual, mind you.

A postscript: It turns out the speaker has no qualms making accommodations for anti-maskers in his delegation (and most if not all of the mask-haters are in the GOP caucus). Officials made sure there were 70 (seventy!) seats set up for legislators members who refuse to wear masks, and another 20 for those who can’t wear masks for medical reasons. That adds up to 22.5% of the NH House, for those keeping score at home.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

OK now, some news for those of you considering placing your wager in the early betting pool for the 2022 US Senate election: Guv Sununu is in. Kinda. Or at least it seems like he’s interested.

In a interview th’other day with Jack Heath on his “Good Morning New Hampshire” radio show, the guv said, unequivocally that he’s “definitely open” to launching a bid to unseat Dem Maggie Hassan from the seat.

But, like so many other things that emerge from the guv’s oral cavity, it’s not necessarily quite as it seems.

Because then, he went on to say about entering the Senate race:

“I am open to it. We haven’t completely shut the door. Look, I’ve got kids to put through college. I try not to think about public service as a career. It’s really about how we should be tithing our time.”

And some of that tithing, he told JH, could involve some other pursuits as well: running for a fourth term; returning to the private sector or “becoming a hermit.”

It’s safe to say that at least one of those other choices is hyperbole. You can take your pick.

The most intriguing part of all of it was in something else he said:

“I have to look at what is the job in the Senate? Does it fit my skill set of good management and all that?” C’mon now. He doesn’t know what the job as a US Senator entails? He’s never met any? Not even had the chance to occasionally talk to a former holder of the office while attending a family gathering?

Another option for him to find out: He could ask Kelly Ayotte, who held that very Senate seat before she herself lost to MH in 2016. And he could do it on a debate stage, since she’s said to be considering a run too.

Another lesson in legislative decorum

Wow — talk about bitter. Consider the recent post that GOP Rep. Terry Roy of Deerfield posted on Gab, a right-wing Twitter alternative — a diatribe about how “lefties” are allegedly packing virtual hearings on bills with virtual supporters.

According to TR, they’re “taking advantage” of the hearings “by getting their basement dwelling, parent living, hot pocket eating, multi genders having followers to go online and sign up for or against bills and claiming it represents public support for them.”

But that wasn’t all: “Let’s fight back and show your support for Live Free or Die Republicans in NH. I want these liberal commies to not know what hit them!” No word yet on the tidal wave of support that TR was expecting to emerge from his plea.

“If you’re allowed to use this kind of force inside of your home, your car is – it’s still property, and you’re inside your car, which … it’s parallel.”

– Salem GOP rep Darryl Abbas arguing in favor a bill that would allow a motorist to use deadly force in protecting their vehicle during a public protest.

The question that launched 1,000 “Hmmmmms …”

During a Manchester Dem Zoom forum featuring NH Dem chair wannabe Emmett Soldati, here’s a question that was posed, but left officially unasked after it was ruled it was a not an appropriate question to ask of the candidate because his opponent, Chair for Life(?) Ray Buckley wasn’t there:

“There has never been a full disclosure of Chairman Buckley’s income. For full transparency, would you agree to fully disclose your income?”

MAKING THE ROUNDS

It sure does seem like the pressure is more intense than ever to take first-in-the-nation status away from NH and Iowa.

Here’s a question: Why do ballots cast in the NH Dem vote for party chair have to be signed?

Speaking of the NH Dem chair vote: How do you think the race would go if the voting took place after legislative redistricting was completed?

So, in the end, Jenn. Horn hit the nail on the head about the Lincoln Project.