Flotsam & Jetsam

MacDonald’s Believe It Or NotThat was quite an interesting statement state GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald made Aug. 30 on N.H. Public Radio’s “The Exchange” program.Presented with an opportunity to talk about the backgrounds of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, MacDonald described both as “self-made men from humble beginnings.”At the risk of offending former Gov. John Sununu, let’s check the facts for a moment, shall we?That Romney comes from a privileged background – his father headed American Motors at a time when the Big Three Automakers were Four — isn’t exactly a state secret. And Ryan himself isn’t exactly a pauper. I fact, he’s a multimillionaire himself, courtesy of the family business started in the 19th century and is now known as Ryan Incorporated Central, one of the largest earthmoving companies in the U.S.Makes you wonder how MacDonald would categorize Abe Lincoln’s background.Talking in codeIf state Democrats don’t hold on to the governor’s office this November – and the odds are they won’t – here’s an F&J suggestion for their next nominee. Condoleezza Rice.In her speech before the GOP convention last month, the former secretary of state offered a compelling argument for improving the country’s education system, which, she said, is in a “crisis” that’s “a threat to the very fabric of who we are.”Said Condi: “… today, when I can look at your zip code and I can tell whether you’re going to get a good education, can I honestly say it does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going?”Should sound familiar to the folks in New Hampshire. Actually, those very words could just as well have come out of the mouth of Andy Volinsky, the lead lawyer in the Claremont lawsuit. Which, no doubt you don’t need reminding, offers legal proof that zip codes do matter.Ovide’s dilemmaSo what do you do when you’re Ovide Lamontagne, the front-running GOP gubernatorial hopeful and you get an editorial endorsement from the Concord Monitor, the newspaper that House Speaker Bill O’Brien characterized as “Democratic propagandists” and whose former House majority leader labeled “irresponsible”?Why, you make sure everybody knows about it of course, making sure visitors to your website know that the Monitor wrote, “Republicans who want an effective spokesman for their views, one willing to at least try to put an end to the partisanship that’s paralyzing government, should cast their vote for Lamontagne.”Whatever Ovide’s supporters think of the endorsement, at least it takes some of the sting out of some other recent news for his campaign.That has to do with the active effort of the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition to tell its members that it does not support Ovide for governor.In fact, the coalition said, “despite his claims of being pro-gun, Ovide Lamontagne has a history of opposing the rights of law abiding gun owners.”That can’t help in a GOP primary, can it?F&J Tote Board:Cornerstone Action: The conservative activist group – whose former executive director is GOP gubernatorial hopeful Kevin Smith – omits an endorsement in the Republican gubernatorial primary in its 2012 voters’ guide.Paul Hodes: The former 2nd District congressman and the Democrats’ U.S. Senate nominee in 2010, endorses Maggie Hassan in the Dems’ gubernatorial primary.Andru Volinsky: The lead lawyer in the Claremont school-funding lawsuit endorses Hassan’s opponent, Jackie Cilley, the Dems’ gubernatorial primary.Paul Grenier: The mayor of Berlin – the city where Jackie Cilley grew up — endorses Maggie Hassan for governor.Chris Christie: The governor of New Jersey and deliverer of the GOP conventions’ keynote speech, makes sure to spend some quality time with the New Hampshire delegation during his stay in Tampa.It’s been making the rounds … • Is John H. Sununu serious when he says Ron Paul supporters will basically “get over it” and support Romney after all the Sununu-led shenanigans in Tampa? • It sure looks like the quiet campaign of Bill Kennedy in the Dems’ gubernatorial primary – is getting a lot more attention from the party apparatus than his 10 (count ’em, ten) campaign contributors would normally warrant. • It looks pretty much like it’s Maggie Hassan’s Dem gubernatorial nomination to lose, doesn’t it? • Dem Annie Kuster’s running like the front-runner – and raising money like one too — in her race against incumbent Congressman Charlie Bass. But does it only seem like he’s always the underdog?Snitch corner • As Snitch told ya earlier, the blood is getting badder between supporters of Maggie No Labels and Professor Jackie.But no Maggie supporter has come close to ticking off the Professor’s peeps as Emily’s List, the PAC that says it wants to help elect pro-choice women Dems. First, they dissed the Professor by not even considering giving her any dough, and simply shoveling it to Maggie. Now, there’s an EL newsletter that includes the insinuation that Maggie’s the only pro-choice woman in the race. To wit:”There’s just one opportunity to elect a pro-choice Democratic woman governor in 2012, and it’s in New Hampshire, where former state Sen. Maggie Hassan … is running to keep the seat in Democratic hands. Hassan is likely to face Tea Partier Ovide Lamontagne, an anti-choice zealot, in November. … Political handicappers agree that this race is a true toss-up. If Hassan loses, there won’t be a single pro-choice Democratic woman governor in the country.”Whoa, Nellie. There’s a Big Bowl of Wrong in those sentences, Snitcherinos. Biggest in the Bowl is the Simple Fact that the Professor is in the race right now. Meaning that Maggie NL doesn’t present “just one opportunity to elect a pro-choice Democratic woman governor in 2012.”And you wanna know why the blood’s getting badder and the skins getting thinner? Speaker Bully-O’s latest compulsive foray into sound-bite, TV-air-time politics is his call for a probe of the State Liquor Commission. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but doesn’t he have at least one friend or companion who can tell him that his days as Speaker are numbered, and that maybe if he learned how to tone it down he might be named deputy chairman of a nice little House Committee.If he’s re-elected to the House in the first place, of course.Snitch’s Words to the WiseAll political parties die in the end of swallowing their own lies.