Mayor Karen Liot Hill

Back on February 12th - the day of Dr. Buckey's Senate withdrawal - I wrote here about a fellow Young Democrat:

Karen Liot Hill is a super-talented Young Dem and I'm confident ... no, I know ... she will be a salient voice for progressive issues now and for many years to come. She's a key Young Democratic leader to keep your eyes on.

Only six weeks later I hate to say "I told you so," but, ... well, for those of us outside of the Upper Valley there's great news: yesterday Karen was elected Mayor of Lebanon!

Lebanon is a great place - home to our state's two largest private employers (Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and DH Eye Clinic) and filled with young, self-motivated residents that comprise much of the backbone of the NH Democratic Party. Now that great place has a dynamic and progressive new leader. Karen and so many others give me hope that Young Democrats are quietly, yet assuredly, making N.H. a better state, community-by-community.

There has never been a more important time for young people to serve our communities. Congratulations Karen.

Proud of "A More Perfect Union"

"Politics" derives from the Ancient Greek word "politeia," meaning citizenship. Too often in our nation's and state's capitals that meaning gets lost in talk of tactics, rumors and strategy.

Earlier this year the voters of NH narrowly chose Senator Clinton over Senator Obama and moved the Democratic presidential race forward to where we only have 10 states left to vote. Two powerful, historic candidacies for the Democratic presidential nomination remain.

The issue of race was not the elephant in room back on January 8th, but thanks to some insensitive remarks in the South Carolina campaign, the foolish comments last week by Geraldine Ferraro and video clips of some of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's inflammatory sermons, race - America's orginal sin - moved to the front and center.

There is so much each one of us, no matter how educated or enlightened, can never understand about the neighborhoods and hospitals, the schools and churches, the opportunities either lacking or existing outside of our own immediate communities ... but we can try.

For Americans, in fact, have a national creed - e pluribus unum ... out of many, one.

That's what I heard from Senator Obama today and for that I am grateful. Let us judge one another as we would want to be judged. The Washington chattering classes can make their own judgments that will pervade cable and network news coverage, but today I saw a Democratic presidential candidate speak honestly and powerfully about an issue as powerful as race to the voters as adults - not as white, brown or black. We were told not what we wanted to hear, but what we needed to hear - I am my brother's keeper.

And as Senator Obama so aptly said,

"This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election."

Young people indeed have already made history, but there is more history to be made and each one of us has the choice whether or not to make it. For me, hope has become putting down my iPod and PS2 controller and becoming a Big Brother in Manchester. Hope is organizing Young Democrats in the Upper Valley, Monadnock and Seacoast regions even when cynics tell me that it's hopeless. Hope is becoming not just a better attorney or a better Democrat, but a better citizen.

Like Senator Obama, I still believe in that "more perfect union" and my hope is that between now and November, young people will see themselves both as young voters and citizens.

Appointing NH's Register of Probate Would Save The State Big Money

"There is a myth that New Hampshire's fiscally conservative state culture creates frugal but fit government — no taxes, no frills, no problem. In truth, while New Hampshire may provide fewer services than other states, the notion that its finances are emblematic of old-fashioned New England Puritanism just isn't true. Meager cost and performance information and tortuous business processes create an institutional inertia that wastes much of the state's limited resources."

See http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/states_card.aspx?abrv=NH.

As you know, I ran a campaign for Register of Probate entirely on $5 contributions. Aside from drawing attention to campaign finance reform, my goals were a) to help with voter turn-out; b) civics education about down-ballot candidates' jobs responsibilities; c) increased name recognition, which is why I spent almost all of my money on signs; d) losing so that I would not have to stamp documents for two years--although I would have been happy to serve at that salary level; e) calling attention to the need for this position to be appointed and not elected.

It was indeed a peculiar campaign, but a lot of fun.

The legislature voted (on January 23) with a roll call to support this Constitutional amendment, graciously introduced by Rep. Claudia Chase of Francestown at my behest. You can see from a view of the votes that it largely broke down along party lines. I am not sure why that is, because it is more fiscally conservative to appoint and you are likely to get a more qualified person if the Register is appointed. I guess the party of Reagan really has become the party of George W. Bush—incompetence and partisan struggle being the hallmarks of this Administration. Unfortunately, there were also a number of Democrats who did not allow this amendment to get the two-thirds vote that it needed to pass; a simple majority was insufficient.

Someone will need to bring it up again in 2009 if we are to succeed. I hope you will join me in thanking those Democratic members of the Merrimack County delegation who supported this. Only one Democrat, who was a Republican a year ago, ended up voting against it. All of our county Republicans opposed it. While these are the Democrats who opposed the bill state-wide, even their votes would not have guaranteed its passage:

Espiefs, Peter
Hammond, Lee
Gorman, Mary
Haley, Robert
O'Neil, James
Pilotte, Maurice
Scannell, David
Shaw, Kimberly
Simon, Anthony
Smith, David
Blanchard, Elizabeth
Cali-Pitts, Jacqueline
McEachern, Paul
Splaine, James
Mickelonis, Shawn
Watson, Robert
Jillette, Arthur

The woman that I ran against was, at the time, the best Register of Probate in the state by many accounts and would probably be appointed by Judge Hampe if this CACR were to pass, but she is wrong-headed about the amendment and has stirred up everybody in her Party to support the status quo. I ask for your support as we continue this struggle and want to thank the Democratic members of Merrimack County delegation for their nearly unanimous understanding and support of the right thing to do.

Diebold Accidently Leaks Results of 2008 Election Early

The First Installment of Today in Satiric News:
The Great Folks at the Onion Bring Us
Diebold Accidently Leaks Results of 2008 Election Early

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
Man do I ever want to elect Democrats now...

Should Bill Gates Go to Hell?

Enough is enough. The Constitution is supposed to be a living document, not a static parchment relic enshrined in the Archives of these United States of America. So, too, the Doctrine of Faith and its encyclopedic catechism of the Catholic Church is supposed to change. The movements of the latter are supposed to be more glacial than dynamic, but we are now in the position where the Church seems to be out in front of the United States government.

When Thomas Jefferson, who later sent Meriwether Lewis trundling across the Louisiana Territory all the way to the shining waters at the mouth of the Columbia River, wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and breathed life into this fledgling democracy, he believed that "Those who labor in the Earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people." What we are doing to the planet in the name of the Constitution--preventing people from hanging their clothes outside on the line, preventing individual states from implementing better programs for the mitigation of climate change--would make him roll over in his grave.

The seven deadly sins have grown to at least 14 after the Vatican updated its 1400-year-old list of the worst moral failures. What did they add? Excessive accumulation of wealth by the few and pollution, to name just a couple of the new offenses.

As e-waste becomes a major problem, Bill Gates and his ilk need to re-evaluate whether philanthropy, which some tout as the fourth branch of government, is really a good substitute for a communitarian government. Is it better to have Gates give billions to the African millions dying of AIDS or would it be better if our governments and churches, with the governments and churches of the world, took better care of our brethren.

I can hear some of you now: "Neither the government nor the churches would do as efficient and good a job." That makes my point exactly. Why have we lost so much faith in something that was supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people? If that is, in fact, the case, are we not smart enough to overcome these hurdles and develop fair, equitable programs that work?

I am not suggesting that there is a hot place in Hell for Bill Gates. That is Somebody else's decision. His generosity should be applauded and he and Melinda are making up for a government (and a Church) that has shrunk, through loss of faith, from its responsibilities. Nevertheless, we must consider these new imperatives from the Vatican. They must, at the very least, prompt the super-rich to ask themselves some critical questions.

Maybe then we can begin to dream again of a future worth living where we all share fairly and equitably in the American dream.

Seacoast Region NH Young Dems Kick-Off

Seacoast Young Dems Kick-Off

March 20th

7-9pm

The Brewery Lane Tavern

95 Brewery Ln in Portsmouth

brewerylanetavern.com