NH GOP Chairman Comments on Obama Surrogate John Hutson's Op-Ed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:                July 15, 2008

Contact:           Fergus Cullen, Chairman, New Hampshire Republican Party

                        603-225-9341 office, 603-520-5450 cell

NH GOP Chairman Comments on Obama Surrogate John Hutson's Op-Ed

Expresses concern about Hutson’s views that the U.S. is not a world leader but an “outlier” 

CONCORD –   New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen issued the following statement regarding Obama foreign policy surrogate John Hutson’s recent Op-Ed in the Concord Monitor:

“John Hutson’s Op-Ed in Monday’s Concord Monitor left me scratching my head. Like many Granite Staters, I am more than perplexed at how Hutson can write that Obama, one of the most liberal U.S. Senators, is ‘standing by a conservative economic policy’ after voting twice in favor of the Democrats' fiscal 2009 budget resolution that would raise taxes on individuals earning as little as $31,850.

“Instead of trying to spin Obama’s economic plan, John Hutson would do well to stick to his role of being an Obama foreign policy surrogate and advisor. Although even in this area Hutson seems to have some views that defy logic, such as when he warmed up a crowd at an Obama event in Portsmouth by saying, ‘The U.S. is no longer a world leader in our foreign policy. We’re not even a world follower. We’re just an outlier.’

“Besides being outrageous, comments such as these are deeply troubling in that they are indicative of the type of thinking that serves to formulate many of Barack Obama’s shifting foreign policy positions.

“It is clear that Hutson has no business talking about the economy, but what is much more troubling are his comments on foreign policy. I believe he and the Obama campaign owe the people of New Hampshire some explanation of how exactly our country is not even a world follower but is just an outlier.”