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New Hampshire Tag

Yesterday New Hampshire had a primary, and Eddie Edwards won the GOP nomination for the US House of Representatives from the state's 1st Congressional District:
Eddie Edwards, who was endorsed by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, defeated six Republican opponents in the 1st Congressional District, which covers the eastern half of the state. A Navy veteran who also served as enforcement chief for the state liquor commission, Edwards is the second African-American to be nominated to a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire.

The transcript of President Trump's call with Mexico's President Peña Nieto, leaked and then published by the WaPo, contained some remarks about New Hampshire that generated a lot of criticism. The context in which Trump raised the issue was in speaking to the Mexican president about the problem of drugs supplied by Mexico:
“We have a massive drug problem, where kids are becoming addicted to drugs because the drugs are being sold for less money than candy,” Trump said. “I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley, a candidate for the DNC chair, told his fellow Democrats to "grow up" at a forum in Baltimore. Buckley noted that the Democrats did not concentrate on the issues that actually concern regular Americans. From The Daily Mail:
Buckley said the Democrats 'did not offer a positive message to anyone I ... am related to.' 'We did not offer a message to my neighbors, we did not offer a message to the people in Indiana or Ohio or Pennsylvania or Kentucky,' he added, pointing to the states nominee Hillary Clinton lost throughout the Rust Belt.

The Democrats salivated when Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) called GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump a role model. Her opponent Gov. Maggie Hassan held a press call and released a web ad over it. Pollsters even said the comment and Ayotte's attempt to walk back hurt her chances for re-election. But did it? From The Boston Globe:
Ayotte, a Republican, leads her challenger, Governor Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, 47 percent to 41 percent, in poll of the high-stakes race for US Senate. The poll was performed on Monday to Wednesday this week, surveying voters before and after the US Senate debate earlier this week during which Ayotte said “absolutely” Trump is a role model for her children. Hours later Ayotte said she misspoke. In any case, the poll did not show any erosion of support for Ayotte following her comment. But Hassan’s campaign will begin airing a one minute-long television advertisement Friday that highlights her debate mishap.

Bernie Sanders supporters who were excited about his big win in New Hampshire were surprised to learn Sanders and Clinton would leave the Granite State with an equal number of delegates due to the DNC's use of so-called Superdelegates. Yesterday on CNN, Jake Tapper confronted DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on this topic. Josh Feldman of Mediaite has the details:
Tapper Confronts Wasserman Schultz on the Charge Dem Superdelegates ‘Rig’ the Process One of the biggest controversies coming out of New Hampshire is the Democratic superdelegates helping boost Hillary Clinton from an over-20-point-loss to a tie. CNN’s Jake Tapper confronted DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz about this today, asking her what she would say to people who believe “it’s all rigged” against Sanders.

Iowa and New Hampshire could hardly be more different in the composition of their Republican voting population. For example, evangelicals make up a huge percentage of the Iowa GOP voters---well over half. Although there are some evangelicals in New Hampshire, it's a lot smaller group than in Iowa:
Four years ago, just 22% of the state’s primary voters described themselves as evangelicals, well below the 57% in Iowa and the lowest rate among swing states. A 2013 Gallup poll ranked New Hampshire as the second least religious state in the country, behind Vermont, based on churchgoing and the importance of religion in daily life. “Candidates definitely tone things down regarding social issues when they come to the state,” said Stephen Scaer, a 52-year-old special-education teacher who helps run a prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Manchester, N.H., and favors Republican Carly Fiorina. But, he said, “that’s simply pragmatic. If candidates want to win, they have to.”
The common wisdom on New Hampshire is that it's fiscally conservative and socially liberal; there are a lot of libertarians there, too ("Live Free or Die" is still alive in New Hampshire).

For the first time ever, primary voters will be required to furnish identification before voting in New Hampshire's primary elections February 9. First implemented in New Hampshire's 2012 general election cycle, the goal is to crack down on voter fraud.

RickPAC served up its latest offering this morning. Filmed in the beautiful Granite State, Governor Perry is shares the message of American exceptionalism. "This is an incredibly resilient country. We've gone through a civil war, we've gone through two world wars, we've gone through a Great Depression, we made it through Jimmy Carter," Perry says speaking to a group. "We are a blessed country and it makes me proud, but there is something wrong." Perry has yet to announce candidacy and hasn't given a timeframe for when he plans to do so.

Carly Fiorina visited New Hampshire this week and according to WMUR News, she received a warm reception:
Fiorina moves closer to possible presidential announcement MANCHESTER, N.H. —Republican Carly Fiorina is reportedly set to officially enter the presidential race, and she's crediting New Hampshire with helping her make the call. The announcement could come as soon as Monday, and the former Hewlett-Packard CEO has spent a lot of time in the Granite State. Despite growing criticism from Democrats about her record as an executive, she appears to be gaining some traction. After almost a week of drawing increasingly large crowds in New Hampshire, Fiorina appears poised to make her candidacy official, though she won't confirm it yet. "New Hampshire has helped a lot because I have gotten a huge amount of encouragement," Fiorina said. Although she has never held elected office, Fiorina has been set up as a counterpoint to another female presidential candidate, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

If you missed the debate between Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire last night, consider yourself lucky. Brown did very well despite the tremendous odds stacked against him. The debate was sponsored in part by the University of New Hampshire and moderated by the not-at-all biased Chuck Todd of NBC News. Scott Brown went out of his way to tie Shaheen to Obama's poor record and at one point, she helped him out. While many Democrats are running as fast as they can from Obama, Jeanne Shaheen admitted that she has voted with Obama 99% of the time. The Washington Free Beacon caught this moment:
Jeanne Shaheen Admits To Voting WIth Obama 99% Of Time Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D., NH) admitted Tuesday night that she has voted with President Barack Obama 99% of the time. At her second debate against Republican senate candidate Scott Brown, Shaheen conceded the fact after being pressed by a debate moderator. After reminding Shaheen of her voting record the moderator questioned Shaheen, “How does your voting record sort of jive with serving the citizens of New Hampshire?” Faced with the facts, Shaheen admitted to the number and tried to pivot. “Scott Brown talks a lot about one survey and 99% of the time I voted with the president,” Shaheen replied, “but the numbers I’m proudest of are the 259 people now working at the Berlin prison because I was able to get the prison open after it sat empty for two years.”
Here's the video: