Posted on 01/22/2011 2:32:47 PM PST by lbryce
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
DERRY, N.H. — A rancorous fight to lead the New Hampshire Republican Party through next year’s presidential race ended Saturday with an upset victory by a conservative activist backed by members of the Tea Party and other grassroots groups.
Jack Kimball, a relative newcomer to party politics who ran for governor last year as a fiscal and social conservative, beat Juliana Bergeron, who leads the Cheshire County Republicans and was backed by former Gov. John Sununu, the outgoing state party chairman.
The race was closely watched as a sign of how much influence Tea Party groups will exert here in the lead-up to New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 14, 2012.
Mr. Sununu said Ms. Bergeron was a proven leader and fundraiser who could unite all of the party’s factions. In a strongly worded speech before the vote, Mr. Sununu said he was worried about divisions within the party and warned that its leaders must not alienate more moderate members and independents, who make up about 40 percent of the state’s voters.
“We don’t want to be seen as a party that’s a sliver of a party,” he said. “We want to be seen as a party that welcomes all views.”
Mr. Sununu, who orchestrated the huge Republican sweep here last fall, also exhorted the committee members not to alienate any Republican presidential candidates leading into the 2012 primary, saying it was imperative for New Hampshire to provide a “comfortable environment” for all.
“The worst thing for the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary,” he said, “is for people to feel this is not a place they want to participate.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I haven't been paying attention. What has he been saying/doing?
How dare those Republicans try to make their party different from the RATS!
This is significant because of NH’s position as the first primary state. TheTP there seems to be the real thing unlike here in SE Louisiana where it has gone into hibernation after Nov leading many to believe the TP was a Repub Party insider vote getting vehicle. This was tipped early by aTP Express effort to push the Lt. Gov candidacy of the Repub Prty State Secretary Villere who I can vouch has no use for popular activism.
Good news in NH. Old man Sununu’s handpicked successor as party chair was defeated by a tea party supported candidate.
Says an unhappy Sununu: “We don’t want to be seen as a party that’s a sliver of a party,”
Perhaps he’s unaware the rat party is the one that’s been reduced to a sliver of the state legislature. No thanks to him.
He’s basically right — the fact is, we want the sliver of the party comprised of people like him to NOT be considered to BE the party.
campaigning starts in earnest. But not for me until after the Great Melt.
Last Saturday it was -10 in Bethel, Maine.
Rte 2 thru Bethel is a good route across NH to Maine
He was on Howie Carr several times, and those appearances were “must listen” for me. I did not get the impression he was anti-TP, quite the opposite I think.
Granted he thrust Souter on us, which constitutes a Scarlett letter of epic failure, but NH did come back under his watch. Although the bad outweighs the good in that scenario.
Right! Very scenic...although I’d prefer to be there when it’s at leaast, oh, freezing! :)
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