“I am disappointed, however, that you have chosen to return to New Hampshire to involve yourself in the contested New Hampshire primary for U.S. Senate by supporting Kelly Ayotte,” writes Lamontagne. “You know better than most that independent-minded voters of New Hampshire decide for themselves who to support in a primary.”

“I have become accustomed to the DC establishment and party bosses choosing sides and telling New Hampshire voters who to support for U.S. Senate in this campaign. I have elected to ignore both the “wisdom” of the establishment as well as the politics of entitlement, because it is the voters of New Hampshire who should decide the outcome of this race. It is in their judgment that I place my trust and confidence,” Lamontagne continued.

Lamontagne proceeded to lambast Ayotte over three issue: the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, earmarks – both of which Lamontagne opposed and, he says, Ayotte has supported in the past – and the stimulus bill.

“As Attorney General, Kelly Ayotte publicly encouraged people and organizations to apply for stimulus funding and helped to administer stimulus funds without a word of concern about this boondoggle,” wrote Lamontagne.

“It is for the voters – not Washington – to select the candidate they trust to be their next U.S. Senator. Accordingly, it is their endorsement that I seek,” he concluded in the letter.

Lamontagne has recently stated that he does not respect McCain’s conservative credentials and has had favorable things to say about McCain’s primary opponent.

The Union Leader reports that Tony Podesta, the man that Newseek called “The Lobbyist,” will be there. Podesta’s firm, the Podesta Group, represents Bank of America which received billions during the federal bailout of Wall Street, oil titan BP America, and Dosal Tobacco Company, the Florida cigarette company that is trying amidst ongoing concern regarding Florida’s budget deficit to avoid paying the same per pack fee assessed on other tobacco companies as part of Florida’s legal settlement with the tobacco industry years ago (at present, the company is being hammered over such avoidance efforts by Florida’s former attorney general, who led the case against tobacco companies, and some Florida editorial boards).

The Union Leader also reports that Heather Podesta of her own Heather Podesta Partners is part of the host committee. Her firm represents similar interests such as Marathon Oil which is heavily involved in oil sands mining and health care insurance companies CIGNA Corporation and HealthSouth.

Scene from a recent Freedom of Speech Coalition fundraiser

According to a published report by John Distaso of the New Hampshire Union Leader, among several lobbyists headlining a Hodes cash call this evening in DC is Robert Raben. In addition to his portfolio of corporate customers, the article reveals, “Raben’s firm also had as a client the adult entertainment industry’s trade association, the Free Speech Coalition, and, according to the firm’s Web site, ‘created engagement strategies and best practices’ for that organization.”

The Free Speech coalition is a California-based group whose mission is to, “Lead, protect and support the growth and well-being of the adult entertainment community.”

Last fall, at its “Bada-Bing Bailout Bash” in California, the Free Speech Coalition honored longtime porno king Larry Flynt with a “Legacy Award.” The Free Speech Coalition described the event as a celebration of “mobsters & molls, cops & robbers, big cheeses & beautiful babes.”

Flynt, along with Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis, sought a $5 billion federal bailout from Congress to help traditional pornographers compete with emerging online skin-flicks.

According to Fox Business, Flynt said at the time, “People are too depressed to be sexually active. This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex.”

Citing the government’s partial ownership in private industry, Francis raised the possibility of allowing the feds to buy “equity stakes in their companies.” That would be similar to the automotive industry bailout, which Hodes supported.

Here’s what he told the Union Leader’s John DiStaso about the tea party movement:

Bass rejected any suggestion that he’s simply a Washington insider retread, a charge his opponents of both parties rolled out immediately in various forms yesterday.

“There’s a big difference between experienced leadership and being a Washington insider,” he said. “I was anything but a Washington insider” while in Congress.

And just for extra emphasis on that point, Bass cozied up to the tea party movement.

“I love them,” Bass said. “God bless every single one of them. You know what their agenda is? Exactly the same as mine.

“They want a new environment in Washington,” he said, and are “just as terrified as I am about the spending that’s going on.

“I’d stand right with them any day of the week because they have started a grassroots movement in American that is going to save our nation,” Bass said.

Foster’s Daily Democrat published an editorial Friday reacting to Shea-Porter’s new sense of civility with some skepticism:

But if Shea-Porter wants voters to turn a deaf ear to Washington, who does she want them to listen to?



Is it the Carol Shea-Porter who very carefully scripted her visit back home last summer to avoid openly discussing her party’s health care plan — the one sitting in a pile of ashes right now?



Is it the Carol Shea-Porter who childishly protested during visits to New Hampshire by then President George Bush?



Is it the Carol Shea-Porter who argues with constituents who disagree with her or who doesn’t answer e-mails?

We would add that Shea-Porter has referred to opponents as “teabaggers,” a gross sexual street term, and has refused to apologize. She also called the Portsmouth Herald and convinced a reporter to print a lie: that she had never been removed from a George W. Bush town hall event and those who make such a claim are the liars. A NowHampshire.com FOIA request to the Portsmouth Police Department yielded proof that Shea-Porter had been removed by two police officers in 2005.

A new Rasmussen poll has Binnie with a one-point lead over Rep. Paul Hodes, the only Democrat in the race. Binnie would earn 42% to Hodes’ 41% in a hypothetical match-up; a virtual tie.

“Binnie is the only [candidate] with a noticeable shift in his numbers,” writes Rasmussen.

This weekend, NowHampshire.com reported on a new Magellan poll that shows Binnie has moved into a strong second-place in the GOP primary, gaining on frontrunner Kelly Ayotte.

Binnie’s rapid movement can most certainly be attributed to his aggressive advertising campaign. His ads are posted below:

Binnie has emerged from almost nowhere to place second to frontrunner Kelly Ayotte on the Republican ballot question:

Ayotte – 37%
Binnie – 23%
Lamontagne – 12%
Undecided — 28%

While Ayotte enjoys a healthy lead in Hillsborough County, Binnie actually leads Ayotte in Rockingham County, 34% – 25%. Hillsborough and Rockingham are the two most populous counties in the state.

The automated survey of likely Republican primary voters was conducted on February 4th.

Paul Hodes is the only Democrat running for the seat.

The poll also shows that the tea party movement enjoys a favorable image among 68% of respondents, while only 7% of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of the movement.

Magellan New Hampshire Senate-Governor Republican Primary Automated Survey Release 020810

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:

During the DNC’s winter meeting in Washington this weekend Buckley and Democratic Party Vice Chair Martha Fuller Clark warned that their deflated base may stay home in November, according to Politico:

Raymond Buckley, the Democratic chairman in New Hampshire, brought up the party’s wipeout in 1994, when they lost both the House and Senate two years after President Clinton was elected.

“The Democratic base…sat home,” Buckley reminded fellow party members from the Eastern region in a session that was part pep talk and part intervention. “And that was just enough.”

“We are nervous — we are all nervous,” added state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, a vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. “We don’t have Bush on the ballot and we don’t have the great presidential candidacy of Barack Obama in 2008.”

Buckley also complained that the Party has failed to hone and deliver its message:

Raymond Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said the national Democratic party needs to help state groups elevate the Obama campaign rhetoric.

“We can’t win in 2010 if all we’re doing is celebrating the election of 2008,” said Buckley, who is also vice chairman of the DNC. “We haven’t gotten out the message of this administration’s successes.”

These private revelations by Buckley stand in stark contrast to the everything-is-fine attitude the Chairman has displayed publicly at recently appearances on such media venues as NHPR’s “The Exchange.”

In another awkward situation for Buckley video has surfaced showing him going in for a hug with President Obama who offers Buckley no more than a handshake: