AMONG THE REPUBLICANS: Granite State Fissures
Klein, Philip
N ACHILLYJANUARYDAYinManchester,NewHampshire, as snow flurries silently float to the ground, Paul Mirski sits at a table in the Merrimack...
...You can'tvotebasedonjustoneissue,especiallyinatimeof war,"RobertClegg,astatesenator,argued...
...With Sen...
...Some partyactivistswouldratherhavefightsaboutrelatively petty ideological differences in a way that pits Republicans against Republicans than take the fight to the Democrats," Cullen said...
...hosted a reception here for dozens of Republican activists on behalf of John McCain...
...Itsresidents aren't conservative per se...
...In his speech an hour later, Giuliani touted his recordasNewYorkCity'schiefexecutiveandcalledon Republicans to remain optimistic and unite around the core Republican principles of individual freedom, fiscalconservatism,andastrongnationaldefense.But what made him seem like a candidate more than anything else was the way he wove his third wife Judith into his remarks, introducing her to the crowd of over 500 as a nurse with a "scientific background" who helped him through prostate cancer and the September11attacks...
...Mirski has more time to reflect on such subjects nowadays, because after five terms as a state representative, he was swept out of office in November as part of the historic tidal wave that gave Democrats control of both chambers of the statelegislatureforthefirsttimesince1874...
...Thestatewiththemotto"LiveFreeOrDie"maybe still thought of as GOP territory, but Mirski says outsiders who view it as a Republican stronghold have an oversimplified understanding of the state's voting patterns...
...She's going to stay up here and ski...
...She comes from the Poconos and she's been skiingsinceshewasayounglady...
...I haven't decided yet," he says...
...On the surface, Republicans spoke optimistically oftheirchancesin2008,buttherewereclearlysignsof trepidation and discord...
...Not content to allow Giuliani to have so many influential Republicans all to himself, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore and Colorado Rep...
...In 1988, 39 percent of voters were Re-publican and 31 percent were independents, but now just30percentidentifythemselvesasRepublicanand 44 percent are independent...
...Before leaving the Merrimack Restaurant, I ask Mirskiwhetherhewillrunagainnextyear...
...Haines brags that he was the only candidate with the "fortitude and determination"torunagainstPresidentBushin2004, and,asifheweretherunawayfavoriteforthenomination, dismisses the rest of the Republican field...
...What's good for the country today...
...In New Hampshire,thepartyhasbecomesoliberalthatwhen theDemocratstookawaytheincometaxandthesales tax issue, because the governor made a pledge to veto it, we had nothing to distinguish ourselves from the Democrats, so the conservatives were disenfranchised,"hesaid...
...To some of us, a platformcomplianceofficerconjuresupimagesofGestapoapparatchiks...
...Thisplaceisnotwhatyouthinkitis...
...The very diner they eat in is a frequent stopforpresidentialhopefuls,andjustanhourearlier Utah Gov...
...Haines, who hasbeen"running"forpresidentsince1992,becamea footnote to history when he helped apprehend a man who had opened fire outside the White House in 1994...
...Tom Tancredowereonhandtopitchthemselvestoconservatives.Andjustinsidetheentrancetothetheater,the eccentricRobertHaineshadsetupshopwithafolding table covered with campaign materials...
...Philip KleinisareporterforTheAmericanSpectator...
...Giuliani also stands to benefit from the fact that undeclared voters can vote in the state's open primary system, which is howMcCainwasabletowinin2000...
...Jon Huntsman Jr...
...I'd have to promise never to give another guy inmydistrictaride,ifhe'saDemocrat...
...WHILE PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS made for a fun side show, the state's demoralized Republicans had gathered together to lick their woundsandforgeastrategytotakebackpowerin2008...
...I'mafraidshe'snotgoingtocomehome with me," he remarked...
...In national elections, New Hampshire has been a swing state in recent cycles: President Bush won here by fewer than 8,000 votes in 2000, but lost by about 9,000 four years later...
...These areallJohnny-come-latelys,"hesays...
...Theyjustdon'twanttopaytaxes...
...Giuliani'sspeechwaswellreceived,andTAS spoke with dozens of party activists who thought he could overcome his liberal social views in a primary because ofhisstrongrecordasmayorandasaheroof9/11...
...They were so frustrated, I had a guy call me and say he wasn't going to vote for me if I gave my oppositional candidate a ride to the statehouse," Mirski recalls...
...A M O N GT H ER E P U B L I C A N S GraniteStateFissures 5 2 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 Oby Philip Klein M A R C H 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 5 3 Accordingtohisaccount,hewasseekingthegunman's vote immediately before the shooting...
...TheyelectedformerNewHampshireUnionLeadercolumnist Fergus Cullen party chairman after he argued for unifying the party rather than purifying it...
...Youhaveto look at the big picture...
...P H I L I PK L E I N PHOTOS:PHILIPKLEIN...
...Gary Hopper, a former state representative, believes that Republicans got themselves into trouble in the first place by alienating their base in an attempt to appeal to moderates...
...His celebrity status was evident as a school of reporters and photographersfollowedhimaroundtheroomasifthey were part of a chain gang, but anyone getting too close too suddenly was tossed aside by a hulkish bodyguard...
...That morning, the buzz was all about Rudy Giuliani, who came to address the annual meeting of state RepublicanswithhiseyesontheWhiteHouse.Hewas infullcampaignmodeashemingledwiththecrowdof RepublicanplayersatthePalaceTheater,withhiswife Judithathisside,anAmericanflagpinononelapeland a "Protect Our Primary" sticker on the other...
...His dining companion this early evening is George B. Roberts Jr., who served for three terms as a speakerofthestateHouseofRepresentativesuntilhe leftpubliclifein1980.Inastatethatisfamousforhosting the first primary in the nation, Roberts boasts of having met every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower,whocampaignedinthestatewhenRobertswas 12 years old...
...ThemanknownasthemayorofAmericashookhands, posed for pictures with the party faithful, and signed autographs (on fliers, inside his book Leadership, andevenonthecoverofanissueofCigarAficionado...
...The challenges facing the state party will provide the backdrop for the battle to win next year's Republican presidential primary...
...John Sununu facingatoughre-electionbattleandRepublicanslookingtotakebackseatsinCongressandthestatelegislature, activists say it is important that the party have somebody at the top of the ticket who would appeal to independent voters...
...The problem for conservative Republicans, though, is that demographic trends are working against them...
...It depends on howthefishingis...
...I think abortion and gay marriage are going to continue to be issues...
...That is one argument that Giuliani and McCain will be making to woo conservatives whomayotherwisebeuneasyaboutvotingforthem...
...But I don't think that's going to decide who is and who isn't president...
...What they are is they're cheap,"hesays...
...N ACHILLYJANUARYDAYinManchester,NewHampshire, as snow flurries silently float to the ground, Paul Mirski sits at a table in the Merrimack RestaurantonElmStreet,meltsbutteroverhisplateof french fries, and discusses immigration, judicial activism, the history of Islam, and the predicament of the state Republican Party...
...One group of activists had proposed appointing a "platform compliance officer" to keep other Republicans in check...
...In any event, adds Mirski, national issues overwhelmed local issues in last year's election, and the anger conservatives felt with Republicans in Washingtonmeantalotofthebasestayedhome...
Vol. 40 • March 2007 • No. 2
