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New Hampshire has quite a few towns that still have town meetings where citizens can confront their town officers and question expenditures. And they do! It is not uncommon for a citizen to stand up and ask why a town truck can't be fixed instead of replaced or question whether a road needs to be repaved this year. County governments are practically non-existent. Every little town has its own police force - which may consist of one officer and two part-timers. One town I know had an answering machine in the police dept. office for after hours calls.
The more developed areas are more "Liberal" and these areas are having more say in State politics.
With a salary of $100 a year only those who are retired or set can afford to devote the time to state house sessions and meetings. These people are doing OK and do not see the need to change much. I was asked to run for State Rep. in my area but refused as I could not take the time off from my regular hourly job for such low pay.
In a big government thay would take our money without our input and give it away to their pet causes ( like when Joe Biden came back from visiting Georgia he said that as soon as Congress went back into session he would ask for one billion dollars for Georgia! If a legislator tried that here he would get an earful!) but here we make our opinions heard and known.
We have a town meeting style government too in next door liberal Vermont-the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. Budgets are voted on, argument over whether or not to buy a new plow truck, etc. It's truly a great process.
Our legislature is also a citizen legislature and runs from January to March (generally) -they get paid a bit more, but it only covers food and housing for those that stay in Montpeculiar during the session. (I think $700 a month?).
SO....not sure if the "argument" that town meetings and citizen legislature are the reasons why NH is more conservative than it's neighbors. Sure...it could certainly be a part of it though.
As an aside, if anyone is interested in town meetings and how they work, Frank Bryan, a professor at the University of Vermont has written a book on the subject and it is fascinating.
IMO, for some reason, the flight of urbanites in the 60s to Northern New England didnt seem to affect NH as much. Maine and Vermont seemed to the destination of choice! Don't forget, VT was VERY conservative up until the 60s.
There is no way you will see an income or sales tax any time soon in NH. When the Democrats ran a pro-income tax supporter for governor several election cycles back he only got 33% of the vote, The current Democratic governor Lynch has run, and is running again on a NO income or sales tax promise.
From what I understand Republicans are expected to pick up 30 to 50 seats in the house, and get the state senate back, or come close to getting it. I get these numbers from people who have looked at the state races distrit by district. NH would have never went this BLUE if not for President Bush & the war siuation in 2006.
There is no way you will see an income or sales tax any time soon in NH. When the Democrats ran a pro-income tax supporter for governor several election cycles back he only got 33% of the vote, The current Democratic governor Lynch has run, and is running again on a NO income or sales tax promise.
From what I understand Republicans are expected to pick up 30 to 50 seats in the house, and get the state senate back, or come close to getting it. I get these numbers from people who have looked at the state races distrit by district. NH would have never went this BLUE if not for President Bush & the war siuation in 2006.
That is exactly true-people upset about Iraq took it out on their local reps-which to me does not make sense. Also the straight ticket ballot contributed as well-thankfully that is gone. I am hoping that people will come to their senses and realize that voting for President and congress is very different than voting for your local rep. Gov Lynch can say he is against an income tax all he wants but if enough pro-income tax house and senate members are elected to override his veto- we are in a whole new ball game. Earlier in the year, an income tax was in fact floated around the state house-however the dems squashed it because they knew it would be political suicide if done before November. I think people need to keep that in mind when they vote for the NH house and senate in November.
In answer to the OP, recently Verseau posted a political map of NH. I was surprised to see that all the outlying parts of the state are blue, while southern/central NH was red/rose. When I read the posts here, I sense the when people talk about being conservative, they are talking about the way the govt operates, ie lower taxes, less spending. They are not necessarily talking about the religious right brand of conservative, which to me, a recent transplant, is the dominant face of the GOP.
I'm glad that straight ticket voting has been eliminated, because I never vote only along party lines. I like to pick and choose.
I'm also surprised (pleasantly) that Obama is slightly ahead of McCain in state polls. Except for my neighbor's lawn, I only see McCain stickers and posters.
That is exactly true-people upset about Iraq took it out on their local reps-which to me does not make sense. Also the straight ticket ballot contributed as well-thankfully that is gone. I am hoping that people will come to their senses and realize that voting for President and congress is very different than voting for your local rep. Gov Lynch can say he is against an income tax all he wants but if enough pro-income tax house and senate members are elected to override his veto- we are in a whole new ball game. Earlier in the year, an income tax was in fact floated around the state house-however the dems squashed it because they knew it would be political suicide if done before November. I think people need to keep that in mind when they vote for the NH house and senate in November.
From what I understand many Democrats who ran in 2006 never thinking they would get elected are not running for a second term. In Manchester alone it's looking like Republicans wil be picking up at least 7-10 Democratic seats. The thing about NH is that it was never as Republican as it seemed to be.....and it is in no way as Democratic as it seems to be now. The trends in this election cycle are Republican, and after Lynch's third term (yes, I think he wins in November) a Republican will take over the ofice. Lol.....we just need to hang on here
All of the states except New Hampshire are reliably blue in the presidential elections except New Hampshire. What characteristics make it different than the other states? is your history that much different than your neighboring states?
Just my observation- NH isn't really so much a "red" state as much as it is an independant/personal rights/fiscally conservative state. In the past republicans were identified with being fiscally conservative and strongly standing up for personal rights and responsibilities.
As the beliefs of the parties change it seems that the voting patterns of NH voters shift to whomever each voter feels best represents them- making it a true independant/swing state.
Given the stance of many "new school" republican leaders (strict religions convictions, massibe debt-based financing, personal liberties issues, etc) I wouldn't be suprised to see the state swing more toward the blue end of the spectrum as a result- but again this depends on the candidate. The "old school" republican is still the winner here.
Little known fact 1: Did you know that around civil war times the values most associated with "republican" and "democrat" in the past 50 years were actually reversed?
Little known fact 2: Did you know that a statistically large percentage of voters did not know that they can vote for members of different parties (ie- I can vote for the republican senator I like AND the democratic president I like).
The ignorance of the "general" American voter is scary. Working leg-affairs for awhile it really amazed me how entrenched really skewed deep-set beliefs could be (for example- that a democrat can't support the military, or that a republican can't support the environment). Unreal!
I am expecting, or maybe just hoping, that NH stays Democratic instead of reverting to the disconnected and injurious Republican conservatism of the past. That conservative mantra of low taxes – low spending has created a lot of misery in our state by preventing the kind of government intervention that should have attracted progressive industry to the cities and towns instead of just letting the economic base disappear. The Republicans’ desire cheap and inefficient government that benefits the people that already have it made at the expense of the people that are jus trying to make a living and are subject to the economic whims of greed driven corporations and ineffective government.
Massachusetts is a leader in electronic high tech and Boston a world class medical center because the state had spent the money, principally on education, to make it so. The success of mass industry is no accident. New Hampshire, with its mantra on “self made success” is just being penny wise and dollar foolish.
I believe that the government, if funded by a progressive tax system, can do more for the majority than just create a tax haven for the very rich tourist and tax evader.
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I am expecting, or maybe just hoping, that NH stays Democratic instead of reverting to the disconnected and injurious Republican conservatism of the past. That conservative mantra of low taxes – low spending has created a lot of misery in our state by preventing the kind of government intervention that should have attracted progressive industry to the cities and towns instead of just letting the economic base disappear. The Republicans’ desire cheap and inefficient government that benefits the people that already have it made at the expense of the people that are jus trying to make a living and are subject to the economic whims of greed driven corporations and ineffective government.
Massachusetts is a leader in electronic high tech and Boston a world class medical center because the state had spent the money, principally on education, to make it so. The success of mass industry is no accident. New Hampshire, with its mantra on “self made success” is just being penny wise and dollar foolish.
I believe that the government, if funded by a progressive tax system, can do more for the majority than just create a tax haven for the very rich tourist and tax evader.
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All I will say Greg is I disagree with you and hope NH stays as unique as it is.
New Hampshire retains the Yankee attributes of frugal conservatism with personal finances, and believes taxes should be low- and taxes when paid must have verifiable evidence that money is not squandered. Most if not all of New England has this same philosophy- but New Hampshire's is still the most 'conservative' economically.
That being said the state like the rest of New England has become a bastion of liberalism on social issues- and looks in disdain of the civil rights of any American being violated because of their background. New Hampshire as well as all of the New England states keep religion a personal decision- and do not trust those who try and force any particular religion in their face.
The state is likely to emulate the voting habits of the other New England states for the foreseeable future. The current national republican party does not reflect the values of an increasing number of New Hampshire's citizens.
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