NH Passes Marriage Equality Bill

I've been meaning to post something here so long, just to keep things alive and active. I'm still here!! Sorry to disappoint. Here are some highlights of life and politics in New Hampshire lately:

Gay Marriage Passes the NH Senate! While it's not a done deal, it's much closer to done than I ever expected. If truth be told, I have never been an activist for gay marriage. During the last election cycle, while I was psyched that NH Freedom to Marry endorsed my guy, I was very adamant in stating that I could never be a one issue (LGBT) voter. With the amazing list of horrible things our country and our leaders are facing growing exponentially (pandemics, unemployment, climate crisis, wars, terrorism), fighting for marriage rights seemed selfish to me. I would tell anyone who asked that I cared more about poverty and lack of health care than about getting married. So, I am, admittedly, late to this party.

About two weeks ago, I took a day off from work to take my twins, now 6, to the NH State House to hear some of the public hearing regarding HB 436. It was fun to be out & active again, to see some familiar faces and all that. But I wasn't expecting the nastiness, and had to leave so as to not expose my children to some truly bone-chilling testimony. At least I exposed them to the State House and the process, and we had a very fun adventure.

The State Senate Judiciary Committee, sadly, voted not to support the bill, but in true Granite State fashion, every bill reaches the floor for vote, and nothing can ever be killing in committee. (cue School House Rock "I'm sitting in committee...") I love that! So, on Wednesday, the State Senate finally voted. I was unable to attend on such short notice, but I was lucky enough to have found a new UNH College Dem who was live-Tweeting from the scene. Got nothing done all day as I flitted between Facebook (for status updates), Blue Hampshire (for live blogging), and Twitter. Facebook won, thanks to a post from NHDP Ray Buckley at 2:22pm that said "Ray Buckley wants you to know that the NH Senate just passed marriage equality by 13-11." It was David, my new College Dem pal, who informed me of the technicalities: back to the House to approve amendments before passing the bill on to Gov. Lynch. But still, a huge hurdle was passed. Wow!

Everyone I know was frantically researching to see how their Senator voted, and to see if the next email was to be a thank you note or not. For most of us here on the Seacoast, it was a thank you note. Since I personally know my senator, Amanda Merrill (who used to work upstairs from me), I got a quick and personal reply of appreciation for my thank you. A few days later, she sent out a mass-reply to everyone who had written, less personal and much more formal, emphasizing how this bill is respectful of religious differences and protects religious freedom:

"The bill provides equal access to marriage for New Hampshire couples, regardless
of gender. The legislation also clarifies that marriage may be solemnized
in a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony, and affirms that no one shall be
required by law to officiate at a marriage in violation of his or her right to
free exercise of religion. The amended version of the legislation was
accepted by the majority of senators after hours of public testimony and
personal reflection upon the correspondence we received from all corners of the
state. "

So, back to the House then on to Gov. Lynch. I'm not worried about the House and I don't think anyone is. My State Rep is UNH Prof. David Watters, who lives down the street from me and someone I see frequently in the UNH MUB. (I really do love our citizen legislature.) My prediction is that Gov. Lynch will not veto. He released a cryptic statement right after the vote, which talked about federal recognition of civil unions and marriage. So, my prediction is now official...we'll see how this one goes!

Since my political junkiness is more of a national level, the question rolling around in my head is how will this effect the 2010 Senate race, and the next presidential primary cycle!? If both Iowa and NH--firsts in the nation--are both places where the elected legislature voted in favor of gay marriage how will a candidate who opposed it manage the message here vs. their national message. Oh, I love this stuff!

One last note: I'm still loving following The Blogette. She's the only sane Republican left on Earth! Meghan: Please come to UNH next year.

NH is Center Stage Again!

Oh wow, what a weekend.  I'm BAAAaack!

On Friday evening, I dragged my pal & fellow junkie Colleen out into the frigid night, to go to the Dover Dems' Second Annual FDR Dinner.  I want to get more involved, but the real reason I wanted to go was to schmooze and hear the Judd Gregg possible Cabinet appointment gossip.  Plus I learned that the guest speaker would be Dr. Jill Silos, whom I know from my days as Residence Hall Director at UNH when she was first working on her PhD.  Well worth the $12.

It was a very small venue, and a small crowd.  I'd say less than 50: a few UNH Dems, plus state reps, our State Senator Many Merrill, and other committee members.  Colleen immediately spotted Senator Jeanne Shaheen chatting with old friends while her husband Billy was working on a plate of spaghetti.  Senator Shaheen was wearing a very cool purplish suit and fabulous pointy-toes black boots.  She was informal in the company of old friends; Dover is Bill's home turf.  When she stepped up to give some quick remarks, she was still informal.  She told stories about the Inauguration, and Senate Orientation, with Billy yelling from the back, "Tell them the story about the guy from Nigeria!"  

The Shaheens didn't stick around after that, but the event was still wonderful.  Jill was an appropriate mix of reverence & irreverence.  But, there was no real gossip regarding Gregg to be had.  

That is, until today (Sunday). It's looking more likely that Gregg will be nominated tomorrow.  Blue Hampshire has been full of speculation and theories (will Gregg accept??  who will be appointed to replace him??), some lighthearted, some confused, and some angry.  But today HuffPo has a story stating that NH Gov. Lynch is considering Bonnie Newman for a replacement senator.  Wow.

Bonnie has a long & impressive resume.  But one of the parts I like best is that she's the former Dean of Students at UNH, and was an interim president for us a few years back.  She was a fabulous president--got along well with all constituents, was visible, got to know students, and also valued the staff (we are often 2nd fiddle to faculty).  She'd be a friend to USNH and higher education in the Senate, and I really like that.  She personally hired the woman who proceeded me in my job, and they remain good friends.

I do also like her personal qualities: a woman, and a MODERATE Republican.  Obama is clearly making a place at the table for reasonable & smart moderate Republicans, and not the right-wing nut jobs.  Lynch would follow suit.  I like that a lot.  I like the old NH-style repubs a whole lot more than I like the Sarah-Palin wingnut religious fanatical type.

Stay tuned; this could be interesting!

Oh Happy Day: 1/20/2009

I can certainly not even begin to put into word the feelings about today. So I think right now I won't even try. Just Happy Inauguration Day to anyone who's checking out my site.

What a long road this has been. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. More than once this morning, I have been moved to tears, and nothing official has even happened yet.


Several of the UNH College Dems, many former staffers and press I met during this cycle, and many colleagues from TWC are in DC today, among the throngs taking in this historic day. To them: Be safe, and have a wonderful wonderful time. You have earned this day of celebration.



As for me, I will be sitting warmly among the other UNH staffers in the MUB, watching on the large screen TV and pretending to be working. If I'm able, I might do some live blogging here or on BH. I might be too choked up to type.

First Day Jitters

Yes, I am still here. Not much to report other than ice and snow in NH, until this week that is!!

Welcome back! And so, it begins. Yesterday was the swearing in of the 111th Congress, which included Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH! I watched the silly ceremony on C-Span with two colleagues during our lunch hour, in a very empty UNH MUB. We did plenty of heckling and commentary, but I have to admit I was rusty. It's been a few months. Anyway, it was nice to see a few women in the mix, but oh the US Senate is amazingly white!

Senator Shaheen looked great. No scarf, thank goodness. We all predicted green, but she wore a reddish/maroon jacket that was a good color for her. I read on Blue Hampshire a few days back that she's the first woman in the US to be both a state governor AND a US Senator. Go NH!!

Quote of the Day comes from Politico's Shenanigans:

“Like the first day of middle school, except no cool Trapper Keepers and the
dorks have the best lunch tables.”— A freshman House COS on yesterday’s “first
day”

Only In New Hampshire

File this story under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up!"

It's too good to just post the link, so here's the full text from the Union Leader:

DOVER, N.H. (AP) -- There's been some sort of confrontation between two notorious New Hampshire inmates in Dover.

Officials say Gary Dodds and Leeland Eisenberg were involved in a jailhouse altercation on Friday.

Dodds is the former congressional candidate convicted of faking his own disappearance and Eisenberg is the man who held volunteers hostage in Hillary Clinton's Rochester campaign office.

Eisenberg says Dodds hit him in the face, but investigators say it's too early to say exactly what happened.

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi says there's a preliminary report of an act that could be charged under state law as an assault. A sheriff's department investigator plans to interview both men on Monday.

Eisenberg told WMUR-TV in a phone interview that it started as a "silly conversation" about who appoints certain county officials.

"He was asking me questions about the structure of the county government. ... I gave him the answers," Eisenberg said. "He didn't like the answers, he started taunting me and teasing me."

Is this how I will keep myself busy until 2012 candidates start coming, in 2010?  Pathetic!

Update: Foster's has a nice twist on the story, even better than the UL!  

Change Agent

Were you wondering, like I was, how the transition to a new, Presidential brand was going to be managed, or how the old candidate-Obama brand would be replaced.  Wonder no more.  Introducing www.change.gov.  

Brilliant.  There's even a jobs section.  Nice touch, since as of Friday there are hundreds of unemployed community organizers who are chomping at the bit to work in the Obama Administration. 

The Day After

Let the post-mortem begin!  A few weeks ago, Colleen had the brilliant idea to watch the documentary The War Room, about the 1992 Bill Clinton victory.  All throughout, we wondered aloud what was really being said and one behind the scenes in the current campaigns, and were eager to get past the election to learn the real story.  

Voila: Newsweek comes through again.  And we can't wait.  If these early snippets are any testement, this should be juicy.  This is the stuff I love!!  I am so very eager to read more about how rogue Palin really went, who bought what to wear when, and of course, and all that truly useless political gossip.  

Other Monday morning quarter-backing: HuffPo has a final word on the brilliance of Obama's 

branding, which you know I love.  I'm wondering if, in the effort to begin appearing Presidential, we will see all these logos disappear...like Houdini 

magic.  ;-)

And, in a final, full-circle kind of way, my old pal from the days of the NH Primary, Susie, sent me a link to this photo.  It's from an Edwards Town Hall event in Dover in the summer of 2007.  We got there early, and I was letting the twins run around as the advance staff set up shop, until they became absolutely out of control and had to be reigned in.  This campaign has lasted almost 2/3rds of my kids' lives!  

Now what?  Well, it shouldn't be long until local small town Republican community groups start holding their own meetings in the living rooms of Concord, testing the waters for 2012.  

For once, I'm in no hurry for that.