Be careful what you wish for

It’s been a months-long courtship by Mitch McConnell and his smooth-headed, smooth-talking sidekick, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, to talk Guv Sununu into running against Maggie Hassan for US Senate next year. And on many days it feels like the guv’s gonna just toss his ski cap in the ring and go for it.

But you think he may be having second thoughts? First, his own NHGOP has made his claim of being “prochoice” ever more debatable, what with abortion restrictions in the state budget that he signed and the most recent decision by the 4-1 GOP Exec Council to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood (something the guv himself voted to do when he was on the EC, FYI).

It all means that, in a race against MH, he’s gotta talk a lot more glibly than he already does, to wiggle his way out of that political straitjacket on an issue that MH sure knows to fire up the base about.

But perhaps even more concerning is that the guv could face a particularly substantial challenger in the GOP primary for Senate. No, we’re not talking about General Don Bolduc, who tried his hand at the job before, but the Pied Piper of GOPers, one Donnie Trump.

That’s because DT issued a statement th’other day praising the general — a move that can be seen as the ex-prez putting a finger in the eye of Kentucky Mitch, who the paranoid ex-prez sees as his arch-nemesis. Or at least one of them.

So how does the guv run in a GOP primary against a Trumppraised candidate? As a trumpy, of course. But that brings him to the general election campaign and … well, maybe it won’t be so easy.

“I give the governor credit for trying to move this process along. If it were easy, however, it would have happened a long time ago.”

— Exec Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, on the latest Sununu-run attempt to market and sell the former Laconia State School property.

This is the numbers guy

For reasons having everything to do with politics and absolutely nothing to do with health and safety, GOPers in the Legis. seem to have nearly unanimously decided that the louder and more absurdly they rail against vaxes and masks is sound public policy.

And, for what it’s worth, there appears to be no turning back.

In fact, they — and rest of us forced to go along for the ride — may have reached the point of no return.

Submitted as evidence is the recent back-and-forth between HHS Commish Lori Shibinette and Rep. Ken Weyler, the GOPer from Kingston.

The words were exchanged during a Joint Legislative Fiscal Comm. meeting at which LS was urging lawmakers to OK sending $27m in federal money to greatly expand NH’s Covid vax efforts (which are stuck in neutral). The panel — for reasons that have everything to do with politics … yada, yada — voted to table the request.

Despite the expected posturing and supposed fears of federal repression, the LS-KW exchange stands out:

When LS said that 90% of all Covid patients in NH hospitals are unvaccinated, Weyler interrupted rather brusquely and told her that wasn’t true. In fact, he had the courage of his ignorance to actually tell her that the reverse was true: 90% of the Covid patients in hospitals have been vaxed.

After LS stood up to KW’s BS, KW insisted he knew what he was talking about. “Well, people I’m hearing from that are working in emergency rooms (are) saying that 90% of those admitted had the shot,” Weyler said.

Interestingly, Weyler later provided a different source for his BS, telling WMUR a coupla days later that he actually got the info from listening to talk radio.

So which source is it? Maybe next time he’ll learn something about Covid from graffiti on a bathroom wall.

One other thing: KW’s fast-and-loose relationship with “facts” would be disturbing even if he were any old backbencher among the House 400. But the fact is he’s the chair of the Finance Comm., the panel that pores over the details and writes the state budget every two years. That’s right — pores over details, and facts too.

Which could actually explain why the budget that was just passed earlier this year — complete with its fiscally responsible historic abortion and “divisive concepts” restrictions – is such a questionable piece of work.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

Boy, that federal government sure comes in handy when you need to clean up after natural disasters. Wait a second … isn’t a pandemic a natural disaster?

Will the results of that special House race in Bedford — won by a Dem, giving the town two (2) Dem reps for the first time in what seems like anybody’s lifetime — give the redistricters any second thoughts about using Bedford to gerrymander Lou D’Alessandro out of his Senate seat?

All you need to know about the decision by Rep. William Marsh of Wolfeboro to bolt the GOP for the Dems is that his is a very lonely voice, even with all the loonytunes antics of the past year by so many members of WM’s former party.

So who gets what they want?

The umpteen GOPers signing up to run for Dem Chris Pappas’ 1st C.D., seat? Or the Dems themselves, who deep in their heart of hearts would love to see CP running for guv?

Just watching Kelly Ayotte at a GOP get-together in Greenland th’other day, you know she’s running for something. But who knows what it is?