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NH is Ron Paul Country

State had the highest percentage of residents vote for the GOP candidate.

 

For journalists who covered the New Hampshire Primary, it's no surprise that Ron Paul has a huge base of support here in the Granite State.

Even so, it was a bit surprising to see a recent post on the New Hampshire Freedom blog that said New Hampshire had the highest percentage of state population to vote for Paul. And it wasn't even close.

According to the blog, New Hampshire ranked number one with 4.3 percent of residents voting for Paul. That's almost double second place Vermont, which came in at 2.4 percent. And in Vermont and other states, all voters are allowed to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary, which isn't the case here in New Hampshire.

Paul's followers are such diehards that many are still refusing to hop on the Mitt Romney train, even though the Massachusetts governor has wrapped up the Republican nomination.

Kate Schackai, Paul's New Hampshire spokeswoman during the primary, said the news comes as no surprise to her.

"New Hampshire is very independent-minded, frugal, peaceful, and serious about respecting individuals' rights," she said. "As a result, I think voters here were inclined to hear Dr. Paul out, and really consider how federal government spending and policy have gotten us into an economic mess."

She also pointed out that several members of Paul's New Hampshire team, including Jared Chicoine and Jordan Brown, worked in Vermont as well, which may have been a factor in why Paul received so much support there.

O'Keefe backs out

Last week in this column, we told you that James O'Keefe was scheduled to return to New Hampshire to speak at yesterday's Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers picnic. Well, that never happened. The organization sent out a press release on Thursday saying that O'Keefe "had to cancel due to a scheduling error."

This now marks the second time that O'Keefe has failed to appear at a New Hampshire event in recent months. He was supposed to be the keynote speaker at a Rye Republican Town Committee fundraiser in May, but wound up appearing via Skype because he was afraid he would be subpoenaed if he actually stepped foot in the state.

Let the debates begin

There are two gubernatorial debates on tap this week.

On Wednesday, the Granite State Institute of Politics will host a debate between Republican gubernatorial candidates Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith at the Radisson in Manchester. The debate starts at 7 p.m.

Then on Thursday at noon, WMUR will host a debate between the two GOP gubernatorial candidates at Franklin Pierce University.

The Seacoast Republican Women have also announced that they will hold a debate between Lamontagne and Smith on July 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the New Castle Recreation Center at 301 Wentworth Road in New Castle.

Stay tuned to Patch for full coverage of all three Republican gubernatorial debates.

Vets for Ovide

Speaking of Lamontagne, his campaign released an impressive list of veterans who will be part of his Veterans for Ovide streeting committee. There were more than 100 names in all, including many from local towns.

Included on the list were Bob Allard of Portsmouth, Lynne Ferrari-Blankenbeker, Eric Letendre, R. James Steiner and Sam Cohen of Concord, John Cebrowski, Ken Hawkins and John Graham of Bedford, Louis Cizmadia of Windham, Cheri Cywinski, Don LeBrun, Bill Joransen and Griffin Dalianis of Nashua, Dave Dalrymple of Salem, Gary Gahan and Dick Hinch of Merrimack, and Chris Nevins of Hampton.

"When I returned from my tour as a Navy nurse in Afghanistan earlier this year, Ovide was among the first to welcome me home," said Ferrari-Blankenbecker, the coalition's co-chair. "Since my return we have had a number of conversations about veterans issues in our state and it is obvious to me he understands the needs of our community."

Is Romney still eyeing Ayotte for VP?

The speculation about who Romney will pick as his running mate continues, with names like Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Rob Portman getting a lot of mention lately.

Kelly Ayotte also remains a possibility. Many in the media tried to make something out of the fact that she appeared with Romney in Wolfeboro on Wednesday. They've also speculated about Portman's appearance in Concord last night.

Ayotte may have received a bit of a boost when Ann Romney revealed last week that Romney is considering choosing a woman as his running mate.

"We've been looking at that. I'd love that option as well," Ann Romney told CBS News. "So, you know, there's a lot of people that Mitt is considering right now."

I declare a Twitter war!

Most of the media covering Wednesday's Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro described the interactions between Romney supporters and the Obama for America crowd as fairly civil.

But that wasn't the case on Twitter, where New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley and Romney staffer Jim Merrill engaged in a bit of a war of words. The focus was mostly on who had the bigger crowd of supporters.

Buckley criticized the size of Romney's crowd, and he and Democratic 1st District Congressional candidate Carol Shea-Porter both suggested that Romney had bused in people from out of town.

Merrill, meanwhile, described Romney's crowd as "enormous," and Tweeted a photo of a small group of Obama supporters marching in the parade as evidence of their lack of support.

About this column: A weekly roundup of the latest news from the 2012 gubernatorial, Congressional and other races in New Hampshire. If you have something you'd like included in this column, email it to marc.fortier@patch.com. Related Topics: Barack Obama, Kevin Smith, Mitt Romney, Ovide Lamontagne, and Ron Paul

Mr. Berke

7:01 am on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Dear fellow citizens, patriots, and good people of the World,

"Crunch time" is fast approaching. In order to secure the nomination of the Republican Party for Dr. Ron Paul, M.D., Congressman representing the 14th District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in order to get him elected as our next (45th) President of these United States of America on Tuesday, November 6th, we must NOT be deterred in our continuing efforts, determination, unswerving faith, and hard, loving, and moral work! Let us all please RESTORE AMERICA (and therefore the WORLD!) NOW!!!
Sincerely,
Mr. Berke
Mission Viejo, Orange County, California, U.S.A.

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Jan Schmidt

7:07 am on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Should this have been labeled Republican news?

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Keith F Thompson

9:59 am on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Inaccurate Republican news. Jim Merrill tweeted a picture of the LACONIA parade as a response to Buckley's criticism. He clearly labeled it as coming from Laconia. People from both Laconia and Wolfeboro will be glad to explain how the two places differ.
And where's the story of the woman who says she was surrounded by Romney thugs to block her protest during the parade, and threatened with Secret Service action if she tried to move?
http://miscellanyblue.com/post/26598880577#.T_ZMFC6ATv4.facebook

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Patriot

1:34 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

@Jan, no, the good doctor is a libertarian! He has no party so he has attached himself to the republican ticket. When you can no longer practice medicine you become a politician.

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Ex-Republican

7:17 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

Certainly not RINO news, if that's what you mean.

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Ex-Republican

7:50 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

@ Patriot. Again you obviously have a weird idea of Republicans; I would suggest you attach yourself to the Obama-Romney train where all neo-political idiots attach themselves, either as conartistas or libiots...

Romney is as conservative as BHO.

Please check his unblemished conservative record sir...

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Ex-Republican

8:17 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

@ Patriot Dr. Paul is the ONLY Conservative Republican in the entire Party.

Please check his 100% conservative Congressional Voting Record.

Rinos have the party and without independents they're doomed this election; maybe that's their neo-plan anyway...

Dennis Taylor

10:06 am on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Why would we jump on the train of a man who was done nothing while his cronies have cheated Paul out of delegates in every way possible? Why would we vote for a man who wants to expand the power of the presidency to put us into additional wars? Why would we want a man so out of touch with the commoners? Why would we want a man who tells us he needs to check with his lawyers to see how far he can go? Romney would have signed NDAA and loves the idea of drones patroling American skies. Romney does not understand and has no love for our constitution. Romney worships the false god of Mormonism (Romney believes he will become god. This is the same sin that satan committed initially.) and Obama worships Allah, while Paul worships Jesus. Why would evangelicals want to put a satanic person in charge of their nation? (It is irrational to replace one evil with another.) The reasons not to vote for Romney are legion.

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ForThePeople

12:49 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Another Marc Fortier article, with bogus headlines (4.3% of the vote is Ron Paul country?), and a Republican news summary. Improperly labeled and a misleading headline. You don't disappoint, Marc!

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Jeff NH

12:57 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

It was not 4.3% of the vote. It was 4.3% of the residents. He got 23% of the vote. While the main headline is a bit sensational, the sub-headline "State had the highest percentage of residents vote for the GOP candidate" is fully accurate.

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ForThePeople

1:20 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

4.3% of the residents, correction. My comment still stands, though, as that is not "Ron Paul country." Mitt Romney got 39% of the vote. It's wrong anyway you write it. And it's not the first article that's mislabeled, miscategorized, and misleading by Marc.

Pat G

1:16 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Ron Paul could've nearly won the NH primary had democrats been allowed to cast a vote for him, as a NH Paul voter I saw and spoke to at least a couple hundred registered democrats in my town who didn't fully understand our primary rules and had shown up at the polls intending to vote for the good doctor.

Also, I have not yet, and have no intention of, hopping on the Romney bandwagon. This is also a very common sentiment among Paul supporters here in our great state, as the writer states.

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Patriot

1:38 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Ron Paul does not support the republican party platform, constantly boost libertarian philosophy. Start your own party!

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Jeannine Stergios-Richardson

11:34 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Please guys get real. You're going to hand the election to Obama with all this foolishness. What will that get you?

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Ex-Republican

7:40 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

@ Patriot -- so much for the 'Big Tent'. Sir; Doctor Paul is a true conservative, unlike the flood of neo-cons that stole the party in the 90s.

A third party would mean the death of the RINO party -- it already stinks badly of the extinct woolly mammoth inside the big-top.

I will never vote for a rom-chip republican again.

honest info

1:26 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Romney does NOT have the support of the people. But he does have support from the cheating goldman sacks vote counting machine. The msm tries to push his agenda the best they can though. Maby its because they are owned by millionare Romney supporters. MMMmmm I wonder

ONLY !!!!! Ron Paul 2012

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David Delker

4:35 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

This article is off in several areas,but I'm not going to get into all that.Want to know who's really winning follow this link....http://www.thereal2012delegatecount.com/

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Brian St. Onge

6:40 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

"Romney does not have the support of the people". That's about as ignorant a statement as I've heard. Did little green men vote for him and give him the nomination? And Ron Paul??? He's been soundly rejected by the voters twice before and was soundly rejected again this time. How much clearer can it be that the people DO NOT WANT Ron Paul on the ticket?

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Dennis Taylor

6:57 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

I know that the people who work for Romney--the ones that close the meetings early and try to unseat Paul delegates did not want Paul, nor did they want Republican voters to be heard, if it meant these voters did not want Romney. To vote for Romney is to vote to end party democracy. Until those responsible are removed from power and Paul given a sizeable job in Romney's cabinet, I will never vote for nor support in any way Romney. He is the man of the people who are rich and powerful. The Republicans will lose this race when, with Paul, they had a real chance of electing a Christian with good values and a sense of decency. When you all see drones in the skies of NH, thank Obama or Romney as they are both in favor of such a crack down on the citizenry they supposedly serve.

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Jane Aitken

10:35 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

First of all Ron Paul has been a REPUBLICAN congressman for 24 years Secondly it is ROMNEY who doesn't support the platform and who will do nearly everything the same as Obama on foreign policy fiscal and freedom issues Ron Paul has never been pro choice and never imposed socialized medicine on anyone or supported a bailout.

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Jane Aitken

11:05 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

In fact when it comes to supporting the GOP platform Ron Paul has a nearly perfect voting record

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Jeannine Stergios-Richardson

11:37 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Jane - UH NO. Ron Paul votes to the beat of his own drummer. He is not a Republican and I am tired of his supporters living in denial. He 's done and any of your shenanigans you have planned for Tampa will be subverted. We don't need a sideshow when America's future depends on who wins or loses in November.

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Jane Aitken

8:41 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

He follows the platform to a T -- if you remember W stating we should do less 'intervention', you will realize that you all voted for the same thing in 2000.

He is 100% pro-life, not a pro-choice flipper like Romney, never advocated greenhouse gas taxes or socialized medicine. It is sadly Mitt who has never followed the republican platform. Ron Paul is nearly perfect in this respect.

He is also for closing the borders to illegals, something you cannot count on Romney to do either.

Ron Paul is still the best Republican running in the primary.

Dennis Taylor

11:47 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012

Jeannine: The Republican Party's rough treatment of their fellow members--who support Paul--is well documented. Their skill at subversion to which you allude is polished and intentional. America loses if either Obama or Romney wins. You will lose unless you have your wealth in non dollar denominated investments in the foreign banks Romney frequents. Remember: Friends don't let friends buy long term US Treasury bonds!!!

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Jane Aitken

8:43 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

You're right Dennis... the RNC and Romneybots engaged in cheating and even violence (broken hips and fingers?) to force people to vote for Romney. I find this criminal and disgusting and it changed my whole view of who Mitt Romney really is.

Good republicans are not going to award this criminal behavior. The RNC and our local groups are violating a major rule by forcing a nominee upon the delegates.

Jeannine Stergios-Richardson

12:48 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

Dennis - The stealth and deceit involved at the caucuses by Ron Paul's people was shameful. People who lie to become a delegate for one candidate just so they can get to Tampa and vote for another is disgusting. When I found out this was happening I lost all respect for Ron Paul. His Daily Paul missive was little more than propaganda.

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George

6:49 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

Yeah, the establishment hasn't been doing that at all have they? We get lied to all the time, so much so that we think its the truth.. the only way to fight these people is to fight them with the same tactics.. you don't ever bring a knife to gun fight..

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Jane Aitken

8:44 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

You have that quite backward. There was no "stealth and deceit"... except on the part of the GOP groups and Romney supporters. The Paul supporters went to the caucuses and voted, period... then they had doors shut, cops called, all sorts of nefariousness. It is shameful and there is no excuse for it.

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Joan Donahue

10:50 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

stealth and deceit?

The selected democratic operatives on the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission made sure there was no challenge to Sotero on the 2012 NH ballot by cowardly abrogating their role to vet ALL candidates for office. Mind you, they did excercise their role when turning down 8 other candidates, over time, for not fulfilling the Constitutional requirements to hold office. Why is it that Mr. Sotero's records have not been challenged with the same scrutiny? Why is it that dem lawyers sitting on the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission who have made political contributions to the Sotero campaign did not recuse themselves from this vote? I call shenanigans on the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission and the Secretary of State's Office. Even Bill Gardner is part of this cover-up by refusing the post the recounted votes from the fraudulent 2008 presidential election. I was there. I counted votes for weeks. There were many 'irregularities' that should have seen the light of day, and yet, we still pay tribute to the same vote counting machines that screwed us in 2008.....count paper votes; it's not hard and it's the American way!

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Atlant Schmidt

12:39 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012

Joan:

"The Sotero campaign"?

There are folks out there in the medical community who could help you; please seek them out!

George

5:53 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

RE:"even though the Massachusetts governor has wrapped up the Republican nomination."

He hasn't wrapped up anything because if he has, then it would have been announced officially.. that hasn't happened. Stop trying to influence the vote.. Romney isn't going to beat Obama so you might as well get on board with the real people's candidate who can...

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Jane Aitken

8:45 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

This is sad and the GOP only has itself to blame and the abysmal behavior of its officials.

Joan Donahue

6:54 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

Jeannine: The Republican party has conducted itself shamelessly with respect to shutting out duly elected delegates for Ron Paul, changing the rules when they don't get their own way and strong arming. We've seen it all on the youtubes etc. Just curious, what difference do you see between Romney and the current usurper? Both have the same sponsors, same agenda (different means to the ends) and BOTH build upon Bush's unconstitutional laws. Romney all but has Bush's neocon advisors as his own and the current usurper has built a cabinet of 'czars' (that's shadow govt, folks) that rivals that of Russian Tsar Nicholas. You may remember during the debates, when asked a question about the Constitution, Romney said he would have to check with his advisors(handlers and lawyers). Dr. Ron Paul is the only principled Republican candidate for President of America, true to the goals of the party: strong defense, small and limited government. If you don't get the end the fed movement, then you understand nothing in the bigger picture. Romney and Sotero: both internationalists and dangerous to the sovereignty of America.

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George

7:17 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

I agree. I'm glad somebody else knows whats going on...

Mort A. Della

8:02 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

The only thing about the major party candidates is telling which is which: Obamney or Robama? Like this election you have a choice between vanilla and vanilla? Or bland do nothing and the other bland do nothing?

Amazes me that so many think there is a difference between Obama/Romney.

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Jeannine Stergios-Richardson

1:27 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012

WOW - You Paul supporters are out to lunch. He lost so get over it. It's madness. I know for a fact that Paul people intentionally lied about being Romney delegates in order to get their feet in the door. I know that in some caucuses, the people who showed werte lied to and told the voting had already occurred and the Paul people held their own caucus in the back room. I know people whoi were involved in these tactics. You want revolution and anarchy. That's how Cuba got Castro. Think about it.

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Jane Aitken

3:13 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012

He has won 11 states delegates including Massachusetts where Romney garnered exactly ONE delegate.

That is not how it works. You get elected to be a delegate then you vote for whom you want.. period.. the only thuggery happened when people were sore losers and called cops and did other things wrong when they didn't like the outcomes. They have no right to force a candidate on people.

People who know me would laugh at you when you say I "want revolution and anarchy." You must be kidding? I want to restore the Constitutional Republic and so far, candidates like Romney hold no promise that they will help do anything but continue on the same bad fiscal, foreign policy, and freedom preservation path as ever. If the GOP loses members it will be due to their own miscreant behavior.

Dennis Taylor

5:14 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012

Jeanine: Don't worry about anarchy. Obama is training foreign soldiers here, we have drones in the sky, and a NDAA that allows the government to take all your nice property away in the name of helping you. You can also be conscripted to help move said property to assist those truly in need. Anarchy is not likely here in the coming police state. Ron Paul wants to step back from the abyss and reduce the size and power of the federal government. Why do you want to keep it the same size or larger??? Are you happy when Obama decides to rule by executive order or chooses which laws to enforce? Do you expect Mr. (I gotta ask my lawyer) Romney to restrain himself??? Will you please wake up to growing encroachments on your liberty--such as the right of the government to make you buy something we now have in Obamacare? Take that power and use your imagination. There are many social situations the federal government could change by taxing people, now aren't there? The power to tax not only is the power to destroy, it is the power to engineer a society. Paul would try to give that power back to the people he would serve as president. Did you listen to any of his answers in the debates-when he was actually asked and not merely sitting far off to the side of Romney? Could you not see that he was clearly the smartest man on the stage? Romney is a tenth of the man that Paul is, and I am stunned that some of you cannot see that.

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Ernest

5:27 am on Monday, August 13, 2012

What a bunch of crybabies the Ron Paul clan are. He got 4.3% of the vote. WOW! That's really impressive, eh? A sure winner! The solid choice of the voters! Apparently, these Paulbots are sore losers who simply can't, or don't want to, face reality. Ron Paul was soundly rejected by the voters in this country twice in the past. And he was rejected again this spring. The voters do not want this man on any ticket, not now...not ever.

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Dennis Taylor

3:30 pm on Friday, August 31, 2012

Yes, thanks to morons like Dump, we will get either Obama or Romney as president. When Obama hands the Republicans a defeat, try to remember how smug you were, Dump, about your party's success at smothering the Ron Paul effort. I bet your baby burning profiteer Romney loses by at least 4.3%. I would laugh at Romney's loss, but, what is far more troubling and problematic, is that so many people are either fooled by him or so afraid of Obama that they will abandon nearly everything the Republicans stand for in order to get Obama out.

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