TUESDAY, OCT. 4, UPDATE: GOOD FOR ROMNEY, HUNTSMAN. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's announcement today that he will not run for President was viewed as a boost for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
That's especially true in New Hampshire, where polls have consistently had Romney as the front-runner, even though polls also indicate that voters have yet to make firm decisions on who they will support in the first-in-the-nation primary.
Huntsman has been trying to make inroads into New Hampshire and has seen some modest success in polling here. Having the race muddled by still another moderate Republican with star power, at least initially, would have created a distraction that would not have benefited him.
“Now is not my time,” Christie said today at a news conference in Trenton. He said he had made “a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon.”
“Romney is going to be real happy about this,” University of New Hampshire polling director Andrew Smith said of the Christie decision.
Smith has been in the field in recent days polling for WMUR television but said he did not include Christie on the list of candidates and prospective candidates.
He said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani “is still the guy who could give Romney a real run for his money in New Hampshire. He is still popular and has been in second place here in the past.”
Several people in Christie's inner circle have worked for candidates in New Hampshire in past primary election cycles.
Maria Comella, Christie's deputy chief of staff for communications, was Giuliani's 2008 deputy communications director. She was communications director for the New Hampshire Bush -Cheney 2004 campaign.
Mike Duhaime, a top strategist for Christie's campaign for governor, managed Giuliani's campaign in 2008 and in 2004 was eastern field director for Bush-Cheney, which landed him in New Hampshire often.
And Bill Stepien, now a Christie deputy chief of staff, was New Hampshire political director for Bush-Cheney in 2004 and then was John McCain's national field director in 2008.
Still, said, uncommitted New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy, who was also a key player in the 2008 McCain campaign, “I have not heard of a single contact” by the Christie camp to anyone in New Hampshire.
Dennehy said he knows well-connected Republicans in many states and, “They didn't make a single call to an early state.”
Dennehy said, “In the end, this will have to be considered a net positive for Mitt Romney. But this was a tremendous amount of bluster for a decision that everyone expected.
“It will all be forgotten in 48 hours and the focus will go back to the current field of candidates,” Dennehy said.
(Earlier updates and the full Sept. 29 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, OCT. 3, UPDATE: SOUTH CAROLINA MOVES. South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly today set his state's Republican presidential primary for Jan. 21, 2012, blaming Florida officials for prompting causing the front-loading most GOP officials aroung the country had been hoping to avoid.
Last week a Florida commission set that state's primary for Jan. 31, 2012.
The South Carolina moves increases the possibility that the New Hampshire Primary will be held in early January, perhaps on Jan. 10.
The actual date of the primary will remain subject to speculation until set by New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, perhaps not until sometime in November.
Gardner last week set the filing period for the New Hampshire primary for Oct. 17-28 and did not rule out the possiblity of holding the primary in December of this year.
Iowa's caucus traditionally is held several days before the New Hampshire primary.
The moves mean intense efforts by the Republican National Committee to avoid front-loading of primaries and caucuses in the current cycle proved fruitless.
(Earlier updates and the full Sept. 29 Granite Status follow.)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 30, UPDATE: RNC SAYS: "NO WAIVERS." The Republican National Committee this afternoon made clear that Republican parties in any state, including New Hampshire, that violate the national party's primary/caucus calendar by moving their primaries or caucuses earlier than the schedule set out in an RNC rule will lose half its delegates to the national convention next summer.
A senior RNC official said there will be “no discretion, no waivers. Those penalties are in place in our rules. They were enforced in 2008 and they will be enforced in 2012.”
A Florida commission today voted to jump up its primary to Jan. 31 in violation of the RNC rule. It means that New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada will also violate the rule and move their events into January, and possibly, in New Hampshire's case, into December of this year (see item below).
The rule requires Florida to hold its primary no earlier than March and the other four states to hold their events no earlier than February. The state GOP in any state violating the rule will lose half its convention delegates.
New Hampshire Republicans are not bound to base their convention delegate selection directly on the New Hampshire primary, which is a state-run election, said the RNC official.
The GOP in New Hampshire (or any other state) has the option of breaking that connection, allow the primary to go forward in January as a non-binding “beauty contest,” and then select their delegates later through some other process, perhaps a caucus, the official said.
“There is Supreme Court law that party rules trump state law when it comes to party process,” the official, who asked not to be named, said.
The official noted that Missouri has a primary scheduled for Feb. 17 but that it will be a non-binding contest and the local GOP there will hold a caucus later to choose convention delegates.
“It can't be said that any state is forced to bind delegates,” the official said. “It is a choice that every state (party) makes.
“The rules are mandatory for the four carve-out states,” of New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada.
“We've made it clear that there is something you could do if the state law is going force” the date of a primary or caucus, said the official.
The official said the RNC has made that option known to all the early states but said he does not expect it to be adopted by the New Hampshire GOP.
NHGOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald confirmed, "That's not going to happen. That has not been raised with me or discussed at all."
Separately, the RNC official was asked whether the RNC will ask candidates not to campaign in states that violate its calendar rule.
The official seemed to leave the door open to that possibility.
He said the RNC's job is to “make sure everyone is aware of the rule and enforce the rule. That's as far as I will go at this point.”
(Earlier updates and the full Granite Status follow.)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 30, UPDATE: FLORIDA MOVES. From front-runners to the obscure, presidential candidates will begin the quadrennial attention-grabbing pilgrimage to the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office in just more than two weeks to file their paperwork to get on the ballot for the first-in-the-nation primary.
Reacting to a Florida commission's official 7-2 vote this morning to hold that state's presidential primary on Jan. 31, in violation of both national parties' convention delegate selection rules, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner set the filing period for the first-in-the-nation presidential primary for Oct. 17-28.
Gardner will set the actual primary date later, after all other states have set their dates. He is obliged by state law to be sure the primary is held at least a week before a "similar election" in any other state. New Hampshire traditionally follows only the Iowa caucus, which usually is held several days to about a week prior to the New Hampshire election.
The Florida decision had been expected and now launches a domino effect that will result in Iowa, South Carolina Nevada joining New Hampshire in leapfrogging Florida into mid-January and possibly early-January _ or perhaps even December 2011.
Immediately after the Florida commission vote, Gardner, in Concord, issued the following statement:
“For more than half a century, beginning in 1916, the New Hampshire Presidential Primary was held every four years on the second Tuesday of March, our traditional town meeting day.
"In 1972, the State of Florida decided by law to have its Presidential Primary on the same day as New Hampshire. They were not successful. Since then we have not been able to continue having the primary on the second Tuesday in March, the only date specified in our state law to this day.
"Unfortunately, we will be unable to have the upcoming Presidential Primary on the second Tuesday in March and still continue to honor the tradition of our First in the Nation Presidential Primary.
"Because we cannot rule out the possibility of conducting the primary before the end of this year, we are, regrettably, as we were four years ago, forced to move the presidential candidates filing period to October. “
"The two-week filing period for the upcoming NEW HAMPSHIRE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY will begin on Monday, October 17, 2011 and end on Friday, October 28, 2011.
"Filings will be accepted at the Secretary of State's Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. "
"The office will be open until 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the filing period. Any filing made on the LAST day (October 28, 2011) of the filing period must be made IN PERSON by the candidate.
"The Declaration of Candidacy form is available on the Secretary of State's website: http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim2012/index.htm This form and the fee of $1,000 (cash or certified check) is required to be submitted by any person filing for the Office of President of the United States.
"The last day for voters interested in changing their party affiliation is Friday, October 14, 2011. The supervisors of the checklist in every town will be meeting at a minimum of between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on that day for the purpose of correcting the checklist."
The Florida panel rejected a motion to hold the Florida primary on March 6, which would have been in accordance with national party rules.
“We're the biggest swing state in the union and we are 10 electoral votes greater than Ohio in terms of a swing vote,” said Florida Gov. Bob Martinez.
Martinez said that Jan. 31 “is far enough from the holidays that it does not interfere with all that takes place in the month December, where people are focused on the holidays.”
Florida state Sen. Al Lawson initially shook up the political world by moving for a Jan. 3 primary date, but he later withdrew the motion, insisting, however, that “Florida really needs to be a player,” noting the positive financial impact on the state of having an early primary.
Commission proponents of the Jan. 31 date said that date respects New Hampshire and the other early states (Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada) and yet is appropriate given Florida's huge population and diversity, which was called "a reflection of the national interest.”
Under the rules of the national parties, any state other than the four exempted early states that moves its primary or caucus earlier than the first Tuesday in March will lose half its delegates to the national nominating conventions in the summer of 2012. The exempted "carve-out" early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina are required by the rules to have their elections no earlier than February.
But since these early states will now be forced to disregard the party rules and move their elections into January (or December), it appears now that they, as well as Florida, will also lose half their convention delegations, unless they can somehow obtain waivers.
Also in apparent violation of national party calendar rules are other states, including Arizona and Michigan. Those two states plan to hold their primaries on Feb. 28
South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly, who has the authority to set the GOP primary date in his state, has reportedly said Thursday will probably schedule it on Jan. 28, the Saturday before Florida's primary.
If so, that could push up the New Hampshire primary to Jan. 17 with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 9. Nevada plans to hold caucuses on the Saturday after New Hampshire, which may be in violation of New Hampshire law requiring a week after the New Hampshire primary. It's unclear if Gardner would consider Nevada's caucuses a "similar election" or a violation of the New Hampshire primary tradition.
Iowa GOP Chair Matt Strawn condemned Florida's move and vowed his caucuses will remain first.
(Read much more on the primary calendar issue and on other political developments in the full Sept. 29 Granite Status below.)
THURSDAY, SEPT. 29: “WE'LL ACT ACCORDINGLY.” Florida officials are about to blow up the best-laid plans of the Republican National Committee, the presidential campaigns and other early states in the presidential nominating process. And in a big way.
CNN reported Wednesday that when a Florida commission appointed to come up with a date for that state's presidential primary meets Friday, it will announce that it has chosen Jan. 31 as the date.
“We are expecting to meet on Friday from 11 to 12, and I expect that they will pick January 31 as Florida's primary date,” Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon told CNN. Cannon, who, by the way is a major Rick Perry supporter in Florida, helped select members of the nine-member commission.
That creates quite a mess and clearly means that the New Hampshire presidential primary, which traditionally follows only the Iowa caucuses, could well be held in early- to mid-January — a month to six weeks before previously envisioned.
The man empowered to set the New Hampshire primary date isn't talking about dates or even ranges of dates at this point.
“We'll act accordingly,” New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner told the Granite Status.
“The New Hampshire primary tradition will be honored and the law will be upheld,” he said. “That law says that the primary will be held seven days ahead of any similar election in another state in the year of a presidential election, or the previous year.”
Gardner also pointed out that the law requires him to set the date in a manner that “protects the tradition of the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation presidential primary.”
The Republican and Democratic national committees have allowed only New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina to hold their primaries or caucuses prior to the first week of March. But under the RNC rule, those four states must hold their elections no earlier than the beginning of February.
State Republican parties violating the rule face the penalty of having their 2012 national convention delegations cut in half.
Florida, with its Legislature and governor's office in GOP control, has long been saying it intends to ignore the RNC (and effectively, the DNC) and hold its primary early because it wants to be a major player in the process.
It did the same thing in 2008, holding its primary at the same time it plans to do so this time.
Gardner said Cannon had expressed a desire as early as February of this year to hold the 2012 Florida primary on the last Tuesday in January, as it did in 2008.
It creates a domino effect. South Carolina, which goes fourth in the process, could jump to the third or fourth week of January. Nevada Republicans have their primary set for “the Saturday after New Hampshire.” The question with Nevada is whether it's a similar election.
Gardner will, as he traditionally does, set the New Hampshire primary date after all other states have set the dates of their elections.
The Florida move will have a major impact on presidential campaign strategies, on national media coverage plans, even on certain businesses, such as hotels, in the Granite State.
No one, not even Gardner, knows at this point specifically when the primary will be held. There are several other states in play, as well.
But one thing is certain. It will be the first primary in the nation and it will be held seven days ahead of what Gardner deems to be any similar election.
EARLY STATES TO RNC: DON'T TREAD ON US! The chairs of the Republican parties in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada will issue a statement this morning critical of Florida's move and demanding that the RNC not penalize the four states for leapfrogging Florida and jumping ahead into January 2012, according to NHGOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald.
Tomorrow is the deadline for Republicans in individual states across the country to submit their 2012 national convention delegate selection plans to the RNC.
New Hampshire's GOP plan is ready. It will essentially say that the date of the New Hampshire Primary is tentative for Feb. 14, but, next to “a big asterisk,” it will also clearly state that the date will ultimately be set by Gardner in accordance with state law.
The state Democratic party's plan, submitted in May and approved by the DNC, says the primary will be held on Feb. 14, but “subject to the Secretary of State setting the date.”
When news surfaced early yesterday that Florida intends to jump up to Jan. 31, MacDonald told us that after several conference calls over the past week, the chairs of the four early state GOP committees decided “we're going to stay in the order we had been planning all along” — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
An RNC rule specifically allows Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold early primaries or caucuses, but says they must be held no earlier than February 2012. These specifically “carved-out” early states simply want to stay ahead of the pack, which was the intent of the RNC rule, MacDonald said.
“Ideally we would have preferred to stick to the (February 2012) dates” outlined in the RNC rule, MacDonald said. “But obviously that's not going to be possible now.
“We feel strongly that since we're being forced to move, and we had been fully prepared to live up to the rules of the RNC, that we should not be sanctioned,” by losing as many as half of the New Hampshire delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention.
MacDonald said the RNC legal counsel “disagrees with us,” and insists that “the rule is the rule.”
That position was confirmed by RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski, who said the RNC will “continue working with Florida and other states until the deadline on October 1 to ensure they remain within the party rules. Any state that violates the rules will lose 50 percent of its delegates.”
But MacDonald said, “We're going to do everything we can to avoid the sanctions, but all four of us think that because we're being forced to do this by Florida and perhaps other states, we don't feel that any of our states should be penalized.
“Our statement basically will say that we believe in the rule of the RNC, we believe in the order and the calendar, and we're not the ones violating. Florida is,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald said the joint statement will be released by South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly at a news conference he intends to call in his state. Also signed onto the statement are GOP chairs Matt Strawn of Iowa and Amy Tarkanian of Nevada.
The Granite Status obtained a draft of the statement late last night. It says:
Today, state Republican Party Chairs Matt Strawn (Iowa), Wayne MacDonald (New Hampshire), Amy Tarkanian (Nevada) and Chad Connelly (South Carolina) jointly released a statement condemning any state's efforts to move its 2012 Presidential primary date in violation of RNC rules:
Chairman Strawn commented, "The four sanctioned, early states have been very clear that we will move together if necessary to ensure order as outlined in RNC rules. If we are forced to change our dates together, we will."
Chairman Connelly stated, "Our four states are committed to protecting the integrity of the 2012 primary and we refuse to let rogue states dictate the calendar. Elections held just after New Year help no one, especially underdog candidates. Republicans across America deserve the chance to get to know the candidates. We absolutely must find the right person to defeat Barack Obama."
Chairman MacDonald said, "The New Hampshire Republican Party is proud to stand with Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina in honoring the rules of the Republican National Committee and the laws, traditions and beliefs of our respective states. We recognize that frontloading the political calendar is a disservice to the political process, our candidates and the voters. New Hampshire's Secretary of State will make sure our state continues to play its critically important role in the presidential nominating process," said MacDonald.
Chairman Tarkanian commented, "Nevada remains committed to achieving excellence in our First in the West caucus and we are undeterred by the prospect of moving the date, which we will do if New Hampshire moves theirs, as we are bound by rule to hold our caucus four days after New Hampshire's. Florida's possible decision to move its primary is disappointing and, frankly, disrespectful of the other early primary states and the process as a whole. Nevada stands proudly with the other early states, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina in protecting the established process and representing the West. This situation gives Nevadans the opportunity to showcase our ability to adapt and establish our state as a major player in national politics."
As the Status reported two weeks ago, Gardner has said he will let the dust settle among the other states coveting early primary or caucus dates before setting the date of the New Hampshire Primary. Gardner's decision could come late in the process — four years ago he did not set the Jan. 8, 2008, date until the day before Thanksgiving 2007.
OTHER STATES IN THE FRAY. Arizona has ignored the RNC rule and set its GOP primary for Feb. 28. Michigan last week set its GOP primary for Feb. 28, while Missouri is set for Feb. 7 and Wisconsin is scheduled for Feb. 21 — all in violation of the RNC rule.
Duprey, a member of the RNC rules committee who was among those who worked since 2008 on the new rule, said of Florida, “I thought they'd be smarter than this.
“This (Florida jump to January) effectively precludes Sarah Palin and anyone else from getting into the race, and it's unfortunate for the Republican Party and for democracy. It also makes it much more daunting for any candidate who doesn't have huge cash reserves to be able to compete and capitalize on an early state win.”
Duprey predicted the New Hampshire Primary will probably be held “right after the first of the year again, and could be even earlier than that,” meaning perhaps even in December.
“The most discouraging thing is that when I was on the rules committee in the summer of 2008, every one of these states now moving forward had agreed to the rule,” said Duprey. “Not one of these states said that they do not intend to abide by the rule.
“Where I come from my word is my bond and it's disappointing that some states aren't following through on what they agreed to,” Duprey said.
THE NEVADA PROBLEM. Nevada Republicans during the summer quietly decided to hold their caucus on “the Saturday after New Hampshire,” regardless of when that occurs.
“So if New Hampshire moves, we move,” wrote Nevada GOP Chair Amy Tarkanian, the daughter-in-law of former University of Nevada-Las Vegas men's basketball coach Jerry “Tark the Shark” Tarkanian, in an early September memo to her local party faithful.
In New Hampshire, Gardner told us two weeks ago that his position on Nevada has not changed and he would set the New Hampshire Primary date at least seven days ahead of its caucuses.
It will be interesting to see how he manages that one, but if anyone can figure it out, it's Gardner.
POSSIBLE DEMOCRATIC DILEMMA. If Gardner sets the primary for mid- to early January, it will also force the state Democratic Party to violate its national party's calendar rule.
That rule allows Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to hold early elections, but specifically says that the New Hampshire Primary can be held “no earlier than 21 days before the first Tuesday in March.” That's Feb. 14.
New Hampshire's three DNC members, state chairman Raymond Buckley, former chair Kathy Sullivan and former state Sen. Peter Burling, supported the rule.
Buckley called the Florida move “appalling” and said local GOP leaders, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass, “remained silent for months while their Republican colleagues in other states have been forcing our New Hampshire primary closer and closer to the winter holidays.”
FOR NHGOP VICE CHAIR. On the heels of a successful fundraiser this past Monday, the state GOP executive committee is expected to meet next Monday night to elect a new state party vice chairman to succeed MacDonald, who became chairman when Jack Kimball resigned under pressure Sept. 1
According to a MacDonald email last week, so far expressing interest in the post are party Assistant Secretary Pam Manney and local GOP committee chairs Jim Foley of Derry, Jeff Newman of Concord, and Travis Blais of Windham.
Although House Speaker Bill O'Brien has privately expressed an interest in seeing a Tea Party Republican in the vice chairman's post in an attempt to restore party unity after the Kimball situation, one Tea Party activist noted this week, “I didn't see a Tea Party person jump out on that list.”
As for the Monday night fundraiser featuring Republican Governor's Association Chairman Bob McDonnell, Duprey, who owns the Grappone Conference Center where the event was held, said his staff told him that more than 450 people were in attendance, each paying either $100 or $175 per ticket.
BACHMAN ON NH: IN OR OUT? We're getting mixed messages from the Michele Bachmann camp regarding her interest — or lack thereof — in the New Hampshire Primary.
Her state campaign manager, Jeff Chidester, emailed us this week, “There has been a flurry of positive activity since Keith Nahigian took over the campaign,” succeeding the Ed Rollins.
Chidester said Bachmann plans to spend “some time” in New Hampshire prior to the Oct. 11 debate at Dartmouth College.
Chidester said Nahigian is also “extremely proactive” about getting Bachmann back here in the future.
“Keith's enthusiasm has re-energized the entire campaign and the New Hampshire team is particularly pleased,” wrote Chidester.
But yesterday we obtained an email Nahigian wrote on Tuesday to Bachmann supporters stating clearly that for her campaign “the early state is Iowa.”
Nahigian reports that he recently “presented an internal strategy briefing to our campaign staff detailing the path that we will pursue to victory.”
Nahigian wrote, “Focusing on early primary states like Iowa and South Carolina, victory will ultimately rely on our ability to again unite the crucial coalition of Tea Party Activists, Evangelical Christians, and the Republican base that rallied Michele to a straw poll victory in Iowa, for both the caucuses and beyond in critical states like South Carolina.”
He wrote, “Historically speaking, we know that if you can win just one of the early contests such as Iowa or South Carolina, your campaign is well-placed to win the Republican nomination. Having won the Iowa Straw Poll already, we've showed our ability to raise the amounts of money needed to win key contests, built critical infrastructure, and demonstrated we can excite the base voters needed to defeat Barack Obama.”
He continued, and here's the key:
“Research teaches that it's extremely hard for any candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire — it's only happened twice in the modern primary era. Thus, for Michele, the early state is Iowa — and we plan to run aggressively and to win decisively.”
NAHIGIAN, QUAYLE AND SUNUNU. Speaking of Nahigian, New York magazine wrote earlier this month that his “best-known political contribution to date was contributing to Dan Quayle's famous ‘potatoe' gaffe” — when the former vice president incorrectly told a grade-schooler who had correctly spelled “potato” that he had left off “the ‘e' on the end.”
Nahigian was a Quayle aide at the time and helped set up the photo op.
But it's certainly not Nahigian's only claim to fame. Far from it. As the publication also pointed out, he has in the 20 years since the ‘potatoe' incident built a successful political consulting business.
Coincidentally, Quayle himself will return to the state Nov. 2 for a dinner honoring his long-time friend, former Gov. John H. Sununu, sponsored by the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.
The event, also featuring former Gov. Steve Merrill and emceed by P.J. O'Rourke, will be held at the Grappone Center in Concord.
NEW ROMNEY-BACKERS. Romney has picked up the backing of 10 more New Hampshire state representatives, bringing his total to 19.
He also has signed on one of the state's anti-tax patriarchs, former state Sen. George Lovejoy, who called Romney “the most conservative candidate who could defeat Barack Obama.”
A former Tim Pawlenty supporter, former state Business and Industry Association president Harold Turner, also backed Romney this week.
House members endorsing Romney were Republican state Reps. John Tholl of Whitefield, Carl Seidel of Nashua, Ken Hawkins of Bedford, David Welch of Kingston, Barry Palmer of Nashua, John O'Connor of Derry, Robert Rowe of Amherst, Frank Sterling of Jaffrey, Molly Smith of Hooksett and Michael Weeden of Dover.
The endorsements come on the heels of two polls last week showing Romney with a strong lead in New Hampshire.
A poll by Suffolk University showed Romney with 41 percent, followed by Ron Paul at 14 percent, Jon Huntsman at 10 percent and Perry at 8 percent.
A poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Romney with 39 percent, Perry with 18 percent and Paul with 13 percent.
Romney returned to New Hampshire yesterday for a town hall at Saint Anselm College.
Paul will return today for a 6 p.m. house party in Derry. On Friday, he will address a “Politics and Eggs” breakfast at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm, followed by an address to employees at the Lincoln Financial Group and a town hall at 7 p.m. with residents at Havenwood Heritage Heights in Concord.
Perry will be back in New Hampshire on Friday for a 6 p.m. town hall hosted by the Derry Republican Committee at the Adams Memorial Opera House. At that meeting, Perry will sign veteran activist Tom Thomson's conservative “Pledge to the American People.”
On Saturday, after the 8 a.m. “We the People” town hall at the One Liberty Lane Conference Center in Hampton, he will greet Republicans at the Atkinson Country Club at 10 a.m. and attend the Manchester Chili Fest at Veterans Park at 12:30 p.m.
Perry will then appear at a house party hosted by Ovide and Betty Lamontagne at 1 p.m. in Manchester.
KEY PERRY ENDORSEMENTS. Perry today will announce he is being endorsed by veteran Republican activists and key donors former Ambassador Joseph Petrone and his wife, Augusta.
The two have been presidential campaign volunteers since 1972, helped run Ronald Reagan's Iowa campaign in 1984 and were honorary co-chairs of Rudy Giuliani's campaign in 2008.
The Petrones said Perry “has many of (Reagan's) confidence-inspiring qualities, such as strength attached to his affability, and a ‘savvy-ness' attached to his genuineness. We wanted a principled conservative with backbone.”
Also backing Perry this week was Hillsborough County Treasurer Bob Burns.
RUDY'S GUY. Top national Giuliani aide Jake Menges was in New Hampshire yesterday visiting with current and past Giuliani supporters, and other officials, telling them that the former New York City mayor still has not decided whether to run.
A 2008 Rudy backer said the message was that Giuliani continues to “seriously look at running. They are trying to gauge if there is a place for him still in the race.”
Cornerstone Action Executive Director and potential GOP candidate for governor Kevin Smith had coffee with Menges.
Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, who backed John McCain in 2008, and long-time Giuliani supporter Steve Talarico had lunch with him.
Menges also met with Hillsborough County Sheriff James Hardy and Bass.
Gatsas said, “I have no clue whether he's going to run, but with all of this happening in Florida, if we move the primary to December, I'd say the window closes. That's the advice I gave him.
“If the time frame gets moved, it's a problem for any new candidate who wants to jump into the water,” said the mayor.
RACE TO THE FLOP? Romney and Perry have been battling over alleged flip-flops, with the latest focusing on whether Romney supports the Obama administration's “Race to the Top” initiative.
The Perry camp pointed out last week that back in June, after his formal announcement of a candidacy, Romney said at a town hall in Manchester that while he supports individual states' ability to set academic criteria and test students, he also said “If Barack Obama says ‘I'm gonna take that and impose it on the nation,' I will fight it to the nth degree. We do not have the federal government step in with their so-called experts, taking over the rights of people, states and local governments, it's against the Constitution, and it's wrong for Americans.”
The Perry campaign then contended in a web ad last week that at a Sept. 21 Florida town hall, Romney flip-flopped when he said Obama Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “has done some good things,” such as Race to the Top, which encourages, in Romney's words, “more choice, more testing of kids, more evaluation of teachers — those are things I think make some sense.”
What Perry's camp didn't do, as The Washington Post pointed out earlier this week, was include the entire Romney passage in its web ad.
What Romney actually said was, “those are things I think make some sense, but for me, get that back to the state level.”
It's a major difference, because while Romney supports the goals of Race to the Top, he opposes it as a federal program.
Yet, the following night at the Orlando debate, Perry said, “There is one person on this stage who is for Obama's ‘Race to the Top,' and that is Governor Romney. He said so just this last week.”
After Perry was called on it by the Post, Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said Perry “is using blatantly false attacks to distract from his poor debate performance and his liberal immigration record.”
FRUSTRATED FREE AGENT. Dover Republican Committee Chairman Chris Buck headed the New Hampshire arm of Michigan U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived campaign for the presidential nomination. He said this week that with McCotter dropping out last week, he's now a “free agent” and has been “speaking with a few campaigns and some issues campaigns” about signing on.
Buck is now focused on his recently-filed candidacy for the Dover School Board.
He said the McCotter campaign was victimized by national cable news outlets that refused to allow him to participate in the Republican presidential debates.
These outlets based their standards for participation on how the candidates fared in national polls. Yet, noted Buck, McCotter was not even included in those polls and so really had no chance, despite the fact that he had — and still has — a thoughtful Social Security plan, minus the buzz words, such as “Ponzi scheme.”
ANOTHER SPONSOR. Conservative activist Jennifer Horn, president of the issues group, “We the People, A First-in-the-Nation Issues Forum,” said yesterday that “Defend Your Healthcare” will co-sponsor the group's series of presidential town halls, starting with Saturday's meeting in Hampton featuring Perry.
The health-care group advocates the repeal of the Obama-signed Affordable Care Act. Founder Dr. Betsy McCaughey, former Lieutenant Governor of New York, will speak to the group before Perry takes the stage, Horn said.
McCaughey has been an outspoken opponent of “Obamacare” since the debate began in 2009.
“They understand that ‘Obamacare' is an economic disaster and unconstitutional,” said Horn.
John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union leader and New Hampshire Sunday News.
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