Holding serve
We told ya about AG John Formella’s recent forays into right-wing GOP red meat issues, like suing over “woke” ESG policies by investment firms, gun rights and, dare we say, state’s rights.
Sure looks like the moves of man possibly positioning himself for a guv run.
Edelblut: Right back at ya, John
So we’ve gotta point out that the man who long ago moved beyond positioning himself for guv run, fellow GOPer, Ed Commish Frank Edelblut, ain’t taking the AG’s moves lying down.
The commish’s latest move is to wrangle up Tuftonboro GOP Rep. Glenn Cordelli to amend a bill that would give the commish the power to “issue subpoenas related to violations of the code of ethics and code of conduct for licensed or certified” teachers.
The ball’s back in the AG’s court.
The Beltway’s beloved
On the GOP side of the prez equation is another growing drumbeat that’s not in the least distant — especially if you live and work inside the Beltway.
As F&J has mentioned more than a few times in recent months, the idea of our very own Guv Sununu launching a prez bid has titillated the Beltway punditry to such a point now that if he’s not appearing on one of the Sunday bloviator shows he must have had a scheduling conflict.
Go no further than checking out a recent piece at Politico, “Washington’s Favorite Republican Is Making All the Right Moves,” that ticks off each and every way our guv has endeared himself to that very punditry.
Sununu: The next McCain?
In fact, as author Michael Shaffer duly points out: “There are times when it can seem like Sununu was lab-designed to stroke the erogenous zones of Beltway careerists.”
In other words, a regular John McCain. The problem, of course, is that there’s a very different reality in the GOP nowa-days. And while JM had a way of endearing himself to the press and a big chunk of what was then the Republican Party, cozying up to that very press in GOP’s current iteration won’t exactly endear you to the elephant’s share of the party’s voters.
“We need experience. We need character, personality and the right temperament to lead our country and serve the highest political office in the land.”
— Ex-NH Congressman Paul Hodes, who served as a senior political advisor to Marianne Williamson’s ’20 prez run on why he’s not backing her this go-round.
A matter of facts
Listen dear readers and you shall hear the steady, distant drumbeat of an attempt to convince NH Dems that Prez Joe just ain’t the guy to lead the party as its White House nominee in 2024.
Sure, it’s only a matter of time when the prez throws his hat in the ring, but a coupla recent articles show that at least a few folks are working on at least planting some doubt in potential Dem voters.
Not to say that there isn’t already some doubt. Even a national Marist Poll from Feb. — much-touted as a sign that there’s a “major shift” in Dem voters’ concerns about the prez as their nominee — only reported 50% as saying they think the party is in better shape to win with him at the top of the ticket, as opposed to 45% who said nuh-uh.
Biden: Say it ain’t so, Joe
But perhaps because of that sense that things are indeed shifting, there’s been a little pushback on that narrative of late.
While you of course gotta take this one with a truckload of salt, a recent poll by the NHGOP house publication, the NH Journal, found that 32% of NH Dems want the prez to return as nominee, with 44% saying they’d really like to look elsewhere.
Whatever you think about either poll, that 45-or-so percent shaking their heads over another run by the prez seems pretty consistent.
Then there’s the recent AP story about grumblings in the “rank and file” of the party, quoting some NH Dems — including former House Speaker Steve Shurtleff — as expressing doubts about the prez, particularly his age.
The bottom line on that one, however, is that there is no actual, credible, viable candidate emerging, (Yes, that means you, Marianne Williamson and RFK Jr.)
“I don’t think the New Hampshire people are going to let this go easily.”
— Dem political guru James Carville on the effects of the DNC’s decision on back-burnering the NH prez primary.
MAKING THE ROUNDS
For all the talk about the guv running for prez, the fact remains he’s a long shot. Sez who? He does, telling “Meet the Press,” “Right now, if the election were today, Ron DeSantis would win in New Hampshire. There’s no doubt about that in my mind.”
BTW, while he’s definitely considering whether or not to run for prez, the guv might want to spend a few minutes talking to ex-Maryland guv Larry Hogan, another non-Trumpy GOPer, about what his thoughts are on convincing enough GOP voters to support someone who actually can talk to Dems and folks that don’t agree with them.
No, you weren’t hearing things when Anti-Vaxxer No. 1, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dipping his toe in the waters of the NH prez primary, decried “the greatest polarization in our country’s history.” And he had nothing to do with it?
