April 29, 2008 - 11:22am
NH Party Chairs disagree on whether NH Primary 'worked'
By James W. PindellCAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- At a Harvard symposium today New Hampshire's two political party leaders disagreed over the question whether the past New Hampshire Primary "worked".
"I thought it was a disaster," said Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley. "We only had five days after Iowa and I don't think that allowed the type of retail politics we are used to."
The symposium, sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, brought in national leaders to discuss the presidential primary calendar.
New Hampshire Republican Chair Fergus Cullen said he believed the primary did work.
"We got lucky," said Cullen. "We had a process that was open and not a lot of people dropped out afterward."
Of the approximately 50 people invited, including those from key national party committees, secretaries of state, and those challenging Iowa and New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status, the general consensus was that while small changes might be implemented to the calendar before 2012, substantive change is almost a non-starter.
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If your unsatisfied w/the NH
If your unsatisfied w/the NH Primary and you want to point a finger at someone. May I suggest you point it at Howard Dean.
A short time?
1990 - 1995, 1997 - 2001 is not a short time.
Chairman Fergus Cullen
Fergus Cullen, 35, is a small business owner, high school coach, and former newspaper columnist. He is the second youngest Republican state party chairman in the country.
Fergus interned in former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith’s Washington office in 1992; worked as Deputy Press Secretary for former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland’s winning campaign in 1994 and later was an aide in the governor’s office; was a member of Sen. Phil Gramm’s NH presidential campaign staff in 1995-96; and was Finance Director for NH gubernatorial nominee Ovide Lamontagne in 1996. In 1997, Fergus was Political Director for the Connecticut Republican Party. In 1998, Fergus served as Deputy Campaign Manager for Gov. Rowland’s successful re-election campaign. Campaigns & Elections magazine subsequently named Fergus a “Rising Star” of politics. In the 2000 election cycle, Fergus was a consultant to two of the most closely watched congressional races in the country, including Congressman Rob Simmons’ upset defeat of a 20-year incumbent in eastern Connecticut.
www.nhgop.org
Let's Correct a Few Things
Fergus Cullen is a NH native, he worked for a short time in Connecticut on a political campaign.
How were your holidays ruined? The Presidential primary is a great thing and I wouldn't trade those months for anything in the world. People appreciate the attention and having such a large say in electing the leader of the free world.
The candidates were in NH and the primary did work. John McCain was re-born thanks to his hard work here, Romney was taken down a few pegs because of his loss in a state that he spent $11 million in. John McCain did 101 town hall meetings here and Mitt Romney visited almost every week of 2007. Rudy Giuliani visited almost every week until he decided that Florida was going to save his campaign. Things all worked out in the end, we got the only electable candidate and he was the one that banked his entire political career on the state of NH.
Broken Record
Only someone who was in Florida in December and January or someone more interested in pating themself on the back would think this primary worked.
The candidates weren't here. Check the days they were in Iowa. The campaigns were a shadow of themselves. The national media was barely here. They never had a chance to get to know NH, their insipid reporting during those last five days prove that.
Forcing the public of NH to have their family holidays ruined by politics is cruel.
How would Cullen know anyway? Didn't he live in Conn. until a few years ago?
Our Primary This Past January Was Excellent
I thought that New Hampshire's First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary was never more relevant and important than this year. New Hampshire Republicans "launched" John McCain, and New Hampshire Democrats kept Hillary Clinton from a one-two loss after Iowa went to Barack Obama.
We kept "first' because of a good New Hampshire law protecting our lead-off status since 1975, and because our Secretary of State Bill Gardner used the provision of that law requiring him to set our date "...7 days or more...' ahead of any similar election very well.
We'll have the first primary in 2012 for that same reason. It would have been nice to have had Iowa more than 5 days before New Hampshire, but we can't control that. In 2012, that's the job of the national Democratic and Republican Parties. At least we can set our date ahead of other states because we pay for our election, and we can jump ahead of any other state by at least 7 days.
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