As Dem divisions grow, some wonder if Shea-Porter is rethinking Senate race
January 5, 2010 by Patrick
Filed under News & Politics
Some Granite State political insiders are privately whispering: Is Democrat Carol Shea-Porter reconsidering her decision not to seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Judd Gregg?
Is Carol Shea-Porter rethinking a Senate bid?
The First District Congresswoman took herself out of contention for the Senate seat last March with a fairly clear statement. But growing evidence that fellow Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes (NH-02) is not up to the task, which has sparked considerable anxiety among national Democrats, and a series of issue rifts between Shea-Porter and Hodes have political watchers raising their eyebrows.
“I think Carol took herself out of the race too soon,” one Democratic activist from the 1st CD who asked to remain anonymous told NowHampshire.com. “At least she would be energizing the grassroots right now. No one is excited about Hodes.”
A recent American Research Group poll shows that Hodes would lose the Senate seat to both former-Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and1996 Republican gubernatorial nominee Ovide Lamontagne.
“There is a growing sense that Paul Hodes is not getting it done up there,” one DC Democratic consultant told us.
Interestingly, the growing anxiety about Hodes’ campaign coincides with a subterranean war of words between Shea-Porter and Hodes over a variety of issues.
In December, Shea-Porter stated that anyone who does not change his position on sending more troops to Afghanistan is “irresponsible.” That pinned Hodes, who had yet to announce his position on President Obama’s troop build up, against the wall, politically speaking. NowHampshire.com has learned that Shea-Porter’s remark started a flurry of back-and-forth e-mails between the two members’ offices, with Hodes’s people asking Shea-Porter to clarify her remark, which she did not do in any material sense.
The two Democrats also split their votes on the so-called “Jobs for Main Street” bill, which would use left over TARP money to stimulate local economies, something the stimulus was supposed, but failed, to do. Hodes voted against it, arguing that the money should be used to pay down the federal debt. Hodes’ vote created a firestorm of criticism on the leftwing activist blog BlueHampshire.com.
“Man, it’s starting to look like Paul Hodes-the-Senate-candidate was the worst thing that ever happened to Paul Hodes-the-legislator,” said one liberal blogger.
And very recently, Hodes and Shea-Porter have split on a Shea-Porter bill, from which Hodes has pulled his support, that would limit the use of full body scanners at airports.
“First Paul Hodes shoves Carol Shea-Porter out of the Democrat Senate primary, now he’s throwing her under the bus as she faces increasing criticism for supporting efforts to restrict airport screening procedures,” said NHGOP Communications Director Ryan Williams.
“There’s plenty of time before the [Senate] filing deadline,” quipped one Democratic Hodes detractor.
The moonbats clearly are politically tone deaf.
America (and NH) are running to the right (frustrated with spending and the growth of government), and the libs want to throw up a communist.
Good move. Che .
Oh Carol, please run! Please please please. If elected, you could easily comlplete the idiot trifecta. And yes, Minnesota may lose the tiltle of the stupidest voters but then again, there are Alan Grayson’s supporters.
Is there a better time to “limit the use of full body scanners at airports”? No? Shea-Porter(D), looking out for a terrorists’ right to choose.
I liked Shea-Porter better in her Nazi uniform. It fit.
Remember when she “promised” to “bring New Hampshire values to Washington”?
What an absolute fraud she turned out to be.
Unless, of course, you consider, greed, arrogance, corruption, hypocrisy, and disrespect to be New Hampshire values.
Every single Minnesotan is praying that New Hampshire voters put Shea-Porter in the Senate. That way they can lose the title of “world’s stupidest voters” for putting Franken into the Senate.
Shea-Porter can lose the Senate seat just as easily as she can her House seat. She lied to us about getting elected and when the grass roots used her tactics at her town halls she reacted with a Gestapo flair- calling in her black shirts to get rid of them.
At least Hodes reflects the views of his constituents and not the DC fatcats, politics as usual crowd. But being rid of both of them would be in NH’s best interests.
Well, 15 bonus points to Hodes if he actually succeeded in convincing anybody that “deciding not to spend even more money that we don’t have” = “paying down the national debt”
Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, a pre-emptive quitter.
Hee Hee. I love that Donkeys think Shea-Porter would be an improvement over Hodes. Either one will be creamed by Ayotte. I think the real story is that both know that neither one will get re-elected for their current seats. As far as Dems go, Hodes is less irresponsible. Shea-Porter is a perfect example of a shallow (hence dangerous) moonbat.
Oh God, please let these two destroy one another in internecine warfare. (Not that they have much hope if they stick to the plan but, man, this would be entertaining on an epic scale.)