Richardson Earns the Support of Sixty-Five Prominent Granite State Leaders

Grassroots support grows for Governor Richardson as New Hampshire primary approaches

MANCHESTER, NH-- The Richardson for President campaign today announced the endorsements of sixty-five prominent Granite State activists, businesspeople and community leaders, including eight New Hampshire state representatives, five town Democratic chairs, and the Dean Emeritus of Dartmouth Medical School.

In endorsing New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson, State Representative and Sullivan County Democratic Chair John Cloutier cited his record and proven ability to deliver change.

"As a successful governor, diplomat, and global troubleshooter, Bill Richardson has been tested, and he has proven his worth," said Cloutier, a lifelong resident of Claremont. "Bill Richardson can create the change that we desperately need in Washington, and he is ready to lead on day one."

The endorsements are a strong showing of statewide grassroots support for Governor Richardson and provide the latest boost to the Richardson for President campaign in New Hampshire. On Sunday, Governor Richardson was endorsed by the Conway Daily Sun, who called him the "the only heavy-weight" in the Democratic race for President.

Below is a list of the endorsements:

State Representatives:
Rep. John Cloutier, Claremont
Rep. Evalyn Merrick, Lancaster
Rep. Bennett Moore, Hampton
Rep. Fran Potter, Concord
Rep. Dave Scannell, Manchester
Rep. Carole Brown, Epsom
Rep. Pete Salomon, Canaan
Rep. Jeff Goley, Manchester

Democratic Town Chairs:
Jaye Hays, Ossipee
Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill
Pat Kinne, Charlestown
Suzanne Smith, Hebron
Jack Donnelly, Dublin

Business Leaders:
Jeff Stimson, North Haverhill - Davis-Orion Wire Group owner
Howie Wemyss, Randolph - Mt. Washington Auto Road manager, observatory trustee
Pat Haggerty, Franconia - business owner, Vietnam Veteran
Marelna Schilke - Chapel Arts owner
Stan and Sandy Holz, Whitefield - Village Gun Store owners
Luca Paris, Keene - Luca's Restaurant owner
Linda Fernald, Nottingham - Fernald Lumber owner
Elisabeth Dietrich, Etna - business owner
Peg Purcell, Dover - Purcell Management owner
Vasilios and Barbara Georgitsis, New London - NHVT Computer Services owner

Local Activists:
Gary Gilmore, Dover - former State Representative
Nancy Johnson, Milton - former State Representative
H. Thayer Kingsbury, Keene - former State Representative
Richard Eaton, Greenville - former State Representative
Harold "Chip" Rice, Concord - former State Senator
Mary Eisner, Derry - former Town Chair
Jerry Dyer, East Wakefield - Carroll County Democrats Vice Chair
Tom Slater - Portsmouth Democrats executive committee member
Barbara Ward, Portsmouth - Rockingham County Democrats secretary, state library board trustee
Patricia Higgins, Hanover - Hanover Democrats secretary
Joan Farrell, Concord - named "Individual Arts Patron" by Gov. Lynch, 2006
Wil Brassard, Peterborough - decorated Vietnam veteran, peace activist
Kate Cauble, Effingham - retired Army nurse
Kevin Barth, Keene - Cheshire medical
John Markland, Gilford - Chief of Police
Scott Gove, Concord- NH Teamsters advisory committee member
Donald Hartshorn, Concord - labor leader
Jane Taylor, Keene - City of Claremont attorney
Bill Sharp, Lebanon - Grafton County Register of Deeds, retired teacher
David Littlefield, Somersworth - former city council member, former school board member
Dennis Messier, Somersworth - city council member
Dave Richards, Keene - city council member
Dave Carney, Salem - activist, attorney
Dave Micciche, Milford - activist, veteran
Andy William Reynolds, Hanover - Dartmouth College Democrats president
George Iselin, Marlborough - veteran, farmer and ferrier
April Weed, Keene - activist, wife of State Representative Chuck Weed
Eleanor Vanderpool, Langdon - community activist, retired teacher
Barbara Cleveland, Stoddard - substance abuse councilor
Jane Mitchell Ross, Lebanon - peace activist
Jeannie Sy, Westmoreland - community activist
Audrey McCollum, Etna - clinical social worker

Educators:
Bob McCollum, Etna - Dean Emeritus, Dartmouth Medical School
Jim Grant, Peterborough - founder of Staff Development for Educators (SDE), author
Corey Genest, Nashua - Bishop Guertin High School teacher
Malcolm Bownes, Plymouth - former superintendent
Patrick Troy, Tilton - vice principal
Jen White, Keene - Keene high school teacher
Robin Marra, Fitzwilliam - Franklin Pierce University, political science professor
Cathryn Koning, Keene - Franklin Pierce University, environmental science professor
Dick O'Shaunessy, Salem - retired principal

Concord Monitor Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

Today, Senator Hillary Clinton received the endorsement of the Concord Monitor in the upcoming presidential primary.

In their endorsement editorial, the Monitor wrote that Senator Clinton’s "unique combination of smarts, experience and toughness makes her the best choice to win the November election and truly get things done."

Clinton has also received the endorsements of four Cabinet Press weekly papers, the Keene Sentinel, Foster's Daily Democrat and Laconia Citizen, and 11 Salmon Press weekly newspapers.

The Concord Monitor Editorial follows:

http://www.concordmonitor.com

Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' best choice

Immediately after taking office, President Hillary Clinton would begin preparations to withdraw American troops from Iraq.

She would send a message to world leaders that the United States intends to rejoin the community of nations.

She would make clear to federal employees that they must heed the Constitution.

She would reverse Bush-era policies that have harmed the environment.

She would quickly sign legislation supporting stem-cell research and expanding children's health insurance.

She would lift the gag rule prohibiting international family planning programs from counseling poor women about abortion.

Many White House administrations start off slowly, as green presidents fumble through their early months, unsure how to bend Washington to their will. Come 2009, America will be unable to afford such squandered time.

Clinton's ambitious to-do list for her first few weeks in office gives us confidence that her priorities are right and that she would act swiftly to make a positive difference. She is the Monitor's choice in the Jan. 8 Democratic primary.

New Hampshire Democrats and independents are blessed with a strong field of presidential candidates at a time when a change of course is desperately needed. We have been impressed by Joe Biden's pragmatic foreign policy and by John Edwards's insistence that we pay attention to the poorest Americans.

Barack Obama, more than most, has the power to inspire. The positive tone of his campaign is not a gimmick. He is a serious candidate with sober ideas. For reasons symbolic and substantive, he would also be a nominee Democrats could feel proud to vote for.

But Hillary Clinton's unique combination of smarts, experience and toughness makes her the best choice to win the November election and truly get things done. Before embarking on an agenda of her or his own, the next American president will be forced to undo the damage of the Bush years: ending the war in Iraq, restoring habeas corpus rights, ending the use of torture, healing New Orleans, restoring America's moral authority around the world.

A tall order - but not nearly enough. The next president must also take the lead on a serious effort to slow global warming, a rational policy on illegal immigration and a plan to provide health care to all Americans.

Clinton knows what she wants to accomplish. She knows how Washington works. She has forged alliances with unlikely political partners, and she has waged partisan fights on matters of principle. Her years as first lady and as a U.S. senator have put her at the center of key policy and political battles for a decade and a half. She is prepared for the job.

As first lady, Clinton acted as an American diplomat, meeting with foreign leaders across the globe on behalf of her husband and advocating for human rights. She was influential in shepherding the Family and Medical Leave Act into law. Her fumble on health care reform taught her much about the ways of Washington - and it is to her credit that universal health care remains her signature issue.

As a senator, Clinton has earned a reputation for pragmatic and sometimes creative hard work. She forged a bipartisan plan to expand health coverage to military veterans and their families. She helped secure critical federal assistance for Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks. By stalling the confirmation of President Bush's FDA appointee, she gained over-the-counter access for the morning-after pill. Her work with Senate Republicans, including the leader of the impeachment prosecution against her husband, gives us confidence that the cartoon version of Hillary Clinton - as a leading actor in an exhaustingly partisan Washington soap opera - is a 1990s anachronism.
As a veteran of her own campaigns and her husband's, and as a favorite target of Republicans, she has become a tough campaigner. Unlike John Kerry, she would not dither when the inevitable attacks came.

There are Democratic voters in New Hampshire and beyond who wish for a little more poetry from the guarded and highly disciplined Clinton. She can, after all, seem a relentless policy wonk, rather than an inspirational leader. But consider this: American men gave up their monopoly on the right to vote and hold public office in 1920. In the intervening 87 years, progress for women has been slow and uneven: A wage gap persists; reproductive freedom is constantly at risk; and in the 21 presidential contests since then, Americans have never even given serious consideration to voting for a woman.

The election of America's first female president will show more than half the population - including millions of young girls - that their futures are not limited by their gender, that America has moved a little closer to its ideals of liberty and justice for all. There is plenty of inspiration in that.

In a talented field, Hillary Clinton has the right experience, the right agenda and the know-how to lead the country back to respect on the world stage and meaningful progress on long-neglected problems.

McCain: Spend the night in New Hampshire

Dear Supporter,

Be the lucky person who gets to spend January 8th in New Hampshire with Senator McCain and the campaign staff as we push on to victory! Spend the final 24 hours with us working to turn out our voters and celebrating a great win in the Granite State.

Every person who donates at least $50 between now and January 4th and every maxed out donor to the campaign will be eligible to win this opportunity to be a part of McCain history.

You will stay at one of the official McCain headquarters' hotels on January 7th and 8th, attend the final New Hampshire townhall and rally and work with the campaign volunteers on Election Day Get Out the Vote activities. You will attend the election night hospitality suite and election night Victory Party and be there to cheer on Senator McCain as he wins the New Hampshire Primary!

Just follow this link and donate at least $50 and you will be eligible to be a part of the fun and excitement that is the New Hampshire Primary! We will contact the winner by phone on January 5th so you have time to make your travel arrangements to New Hampshire.
Sincerely,

Rick Davis, Campaign Manager

P.S. Don't miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to spend Election Day in New Hampshire with the campaign. Click here today and be there when we make history together on January 8th!

JOHN MCCAIN QUALIFIES FOR TEXAS BALLOT

U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign announced that John McCain has filed the required ballot paperwork to qualify for the 2008 Texas Republican primary.

John McCain's Texas team is led by state Chairman James Huffines, and includes Secretary Robert Mosbacher, National Campaign Chairman; Senator Phil Gramm, National Campaign Co-chairman; Congressman Tom Loeffler, National Campaign Co-chairman and National Finance Chairman; Fred Zeidman, National Campaign Vice-chairman; Governor William P. Clements, Honorary Texas Chairman; Red McCombs, Honorary Texas Chairman; Mica Mosbacher, Women For McCain Chairwoman; Roger Staubach; and six state Senators.

"I am proud to lead a grassroots team of men and women who support John McCain," said James Huffines. "John McCain's lifetime of service and sacrifice has prepared him to lead our nation from the first day he takes office. He is the only candidate that can maintain the principles of the Republican Party and unite all the Republicans to beat the Democratic nominee in the general election."

John McCain thanked his Texas leadership team, stating, "I am proud to appear on the Lone Star State's Republican ballot. I look forward to campaigning in Texas and to winning the state's support for the GOP nomination."

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP FROM TEXAS:
Secretary Robert Mosbacher, National Campaign Chairman, Houston
Senator Phil Gramm, National Campaign Co-chairman, San Antonio
Congressman Tom Loeffler, National Campaign Co-chairman & National Finance Chairman, San Antonio
Mr. Fred Zeidman, National Campaign Vice-chairman, Houston
Mrs. Mica Mosbacher, Woman for McCain National Chairwoman, Houston

TEXAS CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP TEAM:
Governor William P. Clements, Honorary Texas Chairman, Dallas
Mr. Red McCombs, Honorary Texas Chairman, San Antonio
Mr. James Huffines, Texas State Chairman, Austin
Mr. Dennis Nixon, South Texas Co-chairman, Laredo
Mr. Gene Powell, South Texas Co-chairman, San Antonio
Mr. John Steen, South Texas Co-chairman, San Antonio
Senator Steve Ogden, College Station
Senator John Carona, Dallas
Senator Troy Fraser, Horse Shoe Bay
Senator Robert Duncan, Lubbock
Senator Kevin Eltife, Tyler
Senator Kip Averitt, Waco
George Bayoud, Dallas
Mr. Jerry Ford, Dallas
Mr. Earl Nye, Dallas
Mr. Roger Staubach, Dallas
Mrs. Jeanne Tower Cox, Dallas
Mr. David McDavid, Ft. Worth
Mrs. Kit Montcrief, Ft. Worth
Mr. Jim Dannenbaum, Houston
Mr. Larry Finder, Houston
Mrs. Nancy Loeffler, San Antonio
Mr. Gaylord Hughey, Tyler
Mr. Whit Riter, Tyler

McCain: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Concord Monitor: "Romney Should Not Be The Next President"

"When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it. Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no." -- Concord Monitor

Romney Should Not Be The Next President
Editorial
Concord Monitor
December 23, 2007

If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You'd add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You'd pour in some old GOP bromides -- spending cuts and lower taxes -- plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.

Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped.

Romney's main business experience is as a management consultant, a field in which smart, fast-moving specialists often advise corporations on how to reinvent themselves. His memoir is called Turnaround -- the story of his successful rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City -- but the most stunning turnaround he has engineered is his own political career.

If you followed only his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues and an ability to work well with Democrats. If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core.

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1994, he boasted that he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than his opponent, Ted Kennedy. These days, he makes a point of his opposition to gay marriage and adoption.

There was a time that he said he wanted to make contraception more available -- and a time that he vetoed a bill to sell it over-the-counter.

The old Romney assured voters he was pro-choice on abortion. "You will not see me wavering on that," he said in 1994, and he cited the tragedy of a relative's botched illegal abortion as the reason to keep abortions safe and legal. These days, he describes himself as pro-life.

There was a time that he supported stem-cell research and cited his own wife's multiple sclerosis in explaining his thinking; such research, he reasoned, could help families like his. These days, he largely opposes it. As a candidate for governor, Romney dismissed an anti-tax pledge as a gimmick. In this race, he was the first to sign.

People can change, and intransigence is not necessarily a virtue. But Romney has yet to explain this particular set of turnarounds in a way that convinces voters they are based on anything other than his own ambition.

In the 2008 campaign for president, there are numerous issues on which Romney has no record, and so voters must take him at his word. On these issues, those words are often chilling. While other candidates of both parties speak of restoring America's moral leadership in the world, Romney has said he'd like to "double" the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where inmates have been held for years without formal charge or access to the courts. He dodges the issue of torture -- unable to say, simply, that waterboarding is torture and America won't do it.

When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it.

Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no.

Read Concord Monitor Editorial: "Romney Should Not Be The Next President"

Note: Romney Actually Sought The Concord Monitor's Endorsement

NEW HAMPSHIRE'S KEENE SENTINEL ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT

"Where McCain most distinguishes himself from the rest of this year's Republican pack is in the areas of life experience and force of character. He is not a single-issue candidate off on a frantic ideological jag. Although his political ideology has evolved through experience over the years, he has not changed his previous political positions en masse to appeal to the presumed prejudices and preferences of voters. Nor has he tried to craft a candidacy around an artificial persona who promises to save us all from terrorists, or from the devil. And, perhaps most important, he campaigns with decency." -- Keene SentinelJohn McCain

Editorial Keene SentinelDecember 21, 2007

John McCain has been traveling around New Hampshire telling potential Republican primary voters that they might not always agree with him if he's elected president, but that they can at least be sure he will always do what he believes is right for the country. That's a reasonable summation of McCain's political appeal.

This newspaper does not agree with McCain on many issues.

We are concerned about his opposition to abortion rights, although we are somewhat reassured by his assurance that he does not advocate putting people in jail over the issue.

We were disappointed by his advocacy of the invasion of Iraq, but we understand his arguments that the state of U.S. intelligence in 2003 made the idea seem more appealing than it does in retrospect, and that the United States now has a national obligation to make the best of the mess we created.

As we have noted before in this space, McCain has never been the thoroughgoing Republican maverick that some people assume. Yet he is independent enough to impress.

Consider his efforts at campaign-finance reform -- efforts that have not yet been successful, but that someday will be the key to putting the interests of the American people ahead of the special interests that grease the palms of shameless members of Congress. McCain's passion on that issue no doubt grew out of his involvement in the Keating Five influence-peddling scandal in the early 1990s. Although he was cleared of wrongdoing, he once noted: "We are all tainted by this system." That's not an admission you'll likely hear very many places on the campaign trail.
Recently, we have been impressed by McCain's attitude toward illegal immigration, expressed at considerable political cost in a bill that was defeated earlier in the year. He now notes that any improvement in the situation will have to begin by better policing of the borders, but he continues to speak with humane concern of the people, and the families of people, who have put down roots here.

We are also intrigued, although not fully persuaded by, McCain's recent venture into health-care reform. Like many other Republicans, he puts a lot of faith in private insurance companies, and he rejects the idea of health-insurance mandates. But he is proposing an end to restrictions on insurance availability from out of state providers, as well as significant tax relief for people who negotiate their own insurance arrangements. He has a quiver of proposals for reducing the cost of health care. And he wants to create a federal insurance fund to insure people who are turned down -- or priced out of the market -- by private insurers. "And it'll be expensive," he volunteers, with typical candor.

Where McCain most distinguishes himself from the rest of this year's Republican pack is in the areas of life experience and force of character. He is not a single-issue candidate off on a frantic ideological jag. Although his political ideology has evolved through experience over the years, he has not changed his previous political positions en masse to appeal to the presumed prejudices and preferences of voters. Nor has he tried to craft a candidacy around an artificial persona who promises to save us all from terrorists, or from the devil. And, perhaps most important, he campaigns with decency.

What we see in McCain is a grown-up; a known quantity with a 30-year record of public service; a conservative who is confident in his abilities and yet smart enough to seek counsel. If he becomes the Republican nominee in 2008, the country has a chance of enjoying a substantive presidential contest, unburdened by fear-mongering and irrelevancies. The major candidates will differ sharply in their approaches to the many challenges we face, but their passion is likely to be tempered by civility.

By selecting John McCain on January 8, New Hampshire Republicans and independents have an opportunity to put the presidential contest on a constructive path that's worthy of the nation and its finest aspirations, at a time when a sharp course correction is severely needed.

Read Keene Sentinel Editorial: "John McCain"