According to a new poll by the University of New Hampshire only 35% of likely voters approve of the job Shea-Porter is doing in Congress. 40% disapprove. 24% are neutral or don’t know for sure how they feel.

Even worse, all potential Republican candidates for Congress – even the lesser-known candidates – would defeat her if the election were held today. Former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta performs best against Shea-Porter, defeating her in a hypothetical match up 43% -33%.

In her most damaging blunder, Shea-Porter actually called up a reporter at the Portsmouth Herald and claimed she had never been removed from a George W. Bush town hall event in 2005. A FOIA request filed by NowHampshire.com yielded that Shea-Porter was lying and that she had actually been removed by two police officers.

But this gaffe is not an isolated event. Below is a compendium of Shea-Porter’s gaffes, botches, blunders and outrageous moments:

The New Hampshire Union Leader has the full story.

The controversy is sure to add yet another dimension to Shea-Porter’s problematic history with town hall meetings.

Before she was a member of Congress, Shea-Porter was removed from a President George W. Bush town hall meeting in Portsmouth by two police officers. Shea-Porter later denied to the media that she had been removed. But after filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Portsmouth Police Department, NowHampshire.com learned that she had, in fact been removed.

This August, during the heat of the congressional town hall fury, Shea-Porter avoided hosting any such events but eventually caved after receiving significant criticism from the media and the public.

She taunted town hall protesters by calling them “tea baggers,” a derisive phrase she has refused to apologize for using.

When Shea-Porter eventually did host a town hall meeting, the event dissolved into shouting matches and a retired police officer was ultimately escorted out of the building:

WWE CEO Linda McMahon

The poll, conducted on behalf of former-WWE CEO Linda McMahon, shows McMahon leading former Congressman Rob Simmons by two points in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. The poll raised eyebrows because it was the first to show McMahon in the lead. McMahon has been spending enormous sums of money to bolster her campaign.

But Moore Information is being investigated by the New Hampshire Attorney General to determine whether the firm was involved in an illegal anti-Mormon push poll in New Hampshire.

According to a January 3, 2008 press release:

Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying who employed Moore-Information of Portland, Oregon to conduct a poll in New Hampshire, in November 2007, which has been alleged to be a push-poll. New Hampshire’s voters deserve to know whether any candidate in our Presidential Primary violated New Hampshire’s push-poll statute.

On Friday, November 16, 2007, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office received complaints from both Mitt Romney for President, Inc., and John McCain 2008, Inc., alleging that an illegal push-poll was being conducted in New Hampshire, contrary to New Hampshire RSA 664:2, XVII and RSA 664:16-a. As a result of these complaints, this Office commenced an investigation.
…
Based on the information gathered to date, it has been determined that Western Wats, of Orem, Utah, conducted the telephone poll at issue. It was also determined that Moore-Information, Inc. located at 2130 SW Jefferson Street, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon hired Western Wats to conduct the poll, was involved in developing the content of the transcript for the poll, and set the dates for the poll to be conducted in New Hampshire.

The Hartford Courant confirmed on Monday that the case is open and that it is still investigating Moore Information.

Earlier this month, another McMahon consultant, Mike Slanker, received a subpoena from the Senate Ethics Committee in the controversy surrounding Senator John Ensign of Nevada.

He was the first Republican candidate in New Hampshire to back the third-party efforts of Doug Hoffman over the establishment party candidate in NY-23 (Kelly Ayotte also backed Hoffman). And he has been critical of party leaders for backing candidates in competitive primaries.

Just this weekend, Lamontagne repeated those criticisms to the POLITICO’s Josh Kraushaar:

“I’m the only candidate who’s running for this race who has run for office before. I know how to win in a primary. I’ve decided this is the right time to do it,” said Lamontagne. “I’m not the establishment candidate, and I never will be. I’m going to run based on conservative values.”

In the interview with POLITICO, he criticized GOP Senate leaders in Washington for weighing in on behalf of Ayotte’s campaign well before the primary field even developed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) headlined a fundraiser on Ayotte’s behalf in September.

This isn’t the first time Lamontagne has run against the party establishment. In 1996, he stunned New Hampshire political insiders by defeating then-Rep. Bill Zeliff to win the GOP nomination for governor before losing to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.

Interestingly, though, it appears as though Lamontagne himself sought, well something, from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, though it is unclear what exactly. In early-June, Lamontagne requested a meeting with the committee to discuss his then-exploratory senate efforts. According to National Journal:

Sources say that Ovide Lamontagne, a NH atty, visited the NRSC yesterday. Another sign, if one was needed, that the GOP bench in the Granite State isn’t deep.

The meeting was at his request; NRSC staffers will sit down with any credible candidate who expresses an interest in running. Lamontagne ran unsuccessfully for GOV in ‘96 against Dem Jeanne Shaheen.

Whatever they discussed, few doubt Lamontagne’s conservative bona fides and his vote-earning work ethic as a candidate, though some pro-life leaders reacted angrily to his involvement in a deal to merge Catholic Medical Center with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

NowHampshire.com has inquired as to whether the newspaper will be covering Executive Council races in the 2010 election. We await a reply.

Sign of the Times

The council approved a state guarantee loan of up to $250,000 for the new publishers of the resurrected Claremont Eagle Times.

The loan is for working capital for Eagle Printing and Publishing, the company linked to the Pennsylvania media group that emerged as the suitor after its previous ownership sought bankruptcy protection four months ago.

The lenders will pay an interest rate of 5 percent for the first year and following that, the prime lending rate plus 1.25 percent.

For its part, the guarantee makes the state liable for up to 75 percent of any amount on which the group defaults.

“He’s not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there’s no way,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said on WEEI-AM Radio. “The way I saw him move today, I don’t know if he’ll be ready.”

The Celtics begin their first round of the postseason this weekend at the Garden against the Chicago Bulls. They’ve met three times this year and the Celtics won the first two games by at least 16 points. The third game, the only game Garnett missed, the Celtics lost by 6.

Garnett is an essential part of the team, part of the “Big Three” trio of himself, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. The 6-11 power forward is a sure bet for the Hall of Fame and is considered perhaps the best defensive player in the NBA. Without him, the team has won 14 and lost 7 in 21 games.

“If he can’t get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don’t know how you can play in the playoffs,” Coach Rivers added. “This was an honest run today, you couldn’t make your way through it. The guy’s a warrior, you see him try to mask his way through it. But after 20 minutes of running, I don’t see it. After today, there’s no way he can play.”

“He was frustrated. He was mad at me, mad at everybody. Then he understood,” Coach Rivers said. “He put up a fight. He’s really frustrated, but that’s Kevin. That’s why we got him, because he cares so much.”

Glen “Big Baby” Davis needs to be given some credit though. After coming off the bench to replace Garnett, he has averaged 13.5 points and 5.8 reounds since the beginning of March. His occasional nights of brilliance will have to become a regular thing if the Celtics want to repeat.

This past Wednesday those running for Congress across the country submitted their first quarter fundraising figures. According to published reports 10 of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s leading candidates raised more than $1 million.

According to Politico not all of the news was good news for Democrats. They labeled Paul Hodes as “the most notable Democratic Senate laggard.” In the first quarter Hodes reported raising $225,528, with an additional $39,000 transferred from his U.S. House campaign account. At the end of the quarter Hodes was left with roughly $254,000 cash on hand.

Of those running for the Senate as a Republican only two reached the million dollar threshold. One Republican, Senator Jim Bunning, was described by Taegan Goddard of Political Wire of raising a “paltry” $263,000 with $400,000 cash on hand. Embattled Senators with “paltry” fundraising hauls weren’t the only candidates who bested Hodes this quarter. According to a Congressional Quarterly analysis of fundraising in the first quarter the 40 most vulnerable House Democrats averaged $266,000, a sum more than $40,000 higher than Hodes who is looking for a promotion to statewide office and the United States Senate.

The fundraising total for Hodes raises early concerns about his viability as a statewide candidate and may prompt Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter or a Republican challenger to give the race another look.

The group, called the Human Rights Campaign, is dedicated to, among other things, “equal protection under the law” for “transgendered Americans.”

Transgenderism is a hot button issue in New Hampshire these days as the state House of Representatives recently passed the so-called “Bathroom Bill.” The measure will be taken up in the Senate after the April 21st special election between Democrat Martin and Republican Jeb Bradley.

Despite the Human Rights Campaign’s push to elect him, Martin has refused to state publicly how he will vote on the “Bathroom Bill.” Martin’s campaign manager Joe Elcock refused to respond to NowHampshire.com’s questions as to whether Martin has given assurances to transgender lobby groups he refuses to give to voters.

“I just arrived Thursday afternoon in Manchester, NH where I’ll be working with the New Hampshire Democratic Party to help build the base of fair-minded voters in preparation for 2010 and to help elect Bud Martin to the State Senate in the April 21st special election,” writes Karl Bach, a paid field operative for the Human Rights Campaign who resides in Washington, DC, not New Hampshire.

“New Hampshire is on the verge of passing two key pieces of legislation: marriage equality legislation and legislation to add gender identity to the state’s non-discrimination and hate crimes laws,” Bach continues.

Bach posted the note on both the Human Rights Campaign website and on Facebook.

The Martin campaign has been dogged by the candidate’s unwillingness to articulate himself on key issues and his manager’s history of dirty tricks.

A majority of the Conway Board of Selectmen endorsed Bradley on Monday. The New Hampshire Union Leader endorsed him today.

“Carol Shea-Porter has failed to be honest about her willingness to support a pork-filled stimulus package and a budget that taxes, spends and borrows in excess at the expense of her constituents in New Hampshire,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “We will continue to hold Carol Shea-Porter accountable for rubber-stamping Nancy Pelosi’s agenda that will burden middle-class families and inflict further damage on an already fragile economy for years to come.”

Just how fast is Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter spending your money?

Newspapers say Shea Porter and Nancy Pelosi authorized 1.2 trillion dollars in spending in less than two months.

24 billion per day. A billion dollars every hour.

Now they’re spending your money even faster. While you’re trying to make ends meet, Nancy Pelosi pushed a budget with a trillion dollar deficit.

And Carol Shea-Porter let Nancy Pelosi get her way.

A major newspaper called it “the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history of the federal government.” Strong words.

Shea-Porter and Pelosi are leaving mountains of debt for our grandchildren to pay — money that America is borrowing from China and Middle Eastern countries. It’s wrong.

Call Carol Shea-Porter at 202-225-3121. Tell Carol Shea-Porter to put the brakes….on spending.

The National Republican Congressional Committee paid for and is responsible for the content of this ad. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. W-W-W-dot-N-R-C-C-dot-O-R-G.

You may have seen the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease featured on WMUR this weekend as they set about the work of educating the public and the politicians as to the best way to reduce health costs.

They enjoy a great deal of support, according to new poll results obtained exclusively by NowHampshire.com. According to a new Granite Survey, seventy-five percent of Granite State residents either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with President Obama’s approach to push for comprehensive health care reform this year that will free up more money to help the uninsured by instituting measures to prevent chronic diseases early on and promote wellness.”

For his part, President Obama, while still a candidate for the Democratic nomination told a crowd in Hampton, NH, “we’re going to emphasize prevention, so that the twenty-percent of people that have chronic illnesses that account for eighty-percent of the costs, we will manage their care better. We can save $100 to $125 billion. That’s what allows me to subsidize those who don’t have health insurance. And they will be able to buy into the system.”