Former Gov. John H. Sununu told a packed house of Belknap County Republicans that the Democrats are ruining the state and if he is the new state party chair he intends to put a stop to it.
Citing research from the Pew Research Center and the National Council of State Legislatures, the former Chief of Staff for President George H. W. Bush said the Democratic occupation of the corner office for 10 of the last 12 years coupled with two years of Democratic legislative control has finally pushed the state to the bottom in fiscal responsibility and confidence in public services.
“This is not the New Hampshire I know, this is not the New Hampshire I care about and this is not the New Hampshire I worked hard for,” said Sununu to those who attended the monthly meeting at the Shang Hai Restaurant Wednesday night.
Sununu has officially announced he would like to be the state Republican Party Chair. Last week current Party Chair Fergus Cullen said he would not seek a second term. Key state Republicans, including Sen. Judd Gregg and party Finance Committee Chair Jim Merrill, have heralded Sununu’s return to political activism by saying he will raise money for the cash-strapped party and galvanize its base.
Sununu told the Belknap County Republicans that the party “no longer has the luxury of factions in the party” and that it has to come together with one voice.
He said his first goal is to reach out to people who share the party’s core values of local control and fiscal responsibility.
“We must begin to speak like Republicans and act like Republicans,” Sununu said, encouraging the current membership to talk to family, friends and neighbors about the party and how it is different from the Democratic Party.
He accused the Democrats of promising everything to every faction, passing a budget that was way more than revenue could support and then slashing it after they had won the election.
“They take the [no broad-based tax ] pledge but then break the implicit promise behind the pledge,” he said.
Sununu said New Hampshire’s Democratic governors have used the education funding crisis as a way to circumvent the existing tax structure.
“They don’t understand that by failing to act, they have done more harm,” he said in citing what he thinks are the Democratic Party’s attempts to move all fiscal control away from the cities and towns and to the state.
“We need a loud, strong voice to fight back against the politics of personal destruction, which is the hallmark of the Democrats,” Sununu said.
Responding to Alton Rep. Laurie Boyce’s question about getting candidates ready now for the 2010 election, Sununu said he would prefer to see the process work itself through naturally and see candidates emerge who have shown they can create their own support system and raise their own money.
“First of all, too many goals is no goals at all,” he said to Skip Murphy of Gilford, who asked him to name his top five goals.
He said he has three: To organize the party so that different comfort zones are recognized but no battle lines are drawn, to define the party and make sure voters understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans and to raise the money to enable them to do the work needed.
The state party will elect its officers, including party chair, in January.
The Belknap County Party elected its 18 delegates to the state convention Wednesday but did not elect a chair.
Current Chair Frank Tilton said the 18 delegates would vote for a county chair at their next meeting in Jan. 14 at the Shang Hai. If it is one of the 18 delegates elected Wednesday an alternate will be named to replace him or her.
The delegates are George Roberts, Steve Nedeau, Franklin Tilton, Bill Tobin, Tom Brown, Don Flanders, Carl Johnson, Bob Holbrook, Helen Holbrook, Elaine Swinford, Laurie Boyce, Alan Glassman, Jan Glassman, Greg Knytych, Francine Wendelboe, Alida Millham, Dennis Fields, and Larry Scott.
Tilton has not decided if he will run again. New Hampton Rep. Francine Wendelboe has expressed interest but said she won’t challenge Tilton if he wants a second term.