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NH Progressives Fall in Line as Hassan, Pappas Tack Right

In the past few months, Sen. Maggie Hassan has called for building more of former President Donald Trump’s border wall, supported a “racist” policy to block asylum seekers, and promoted more fossil fuel production — all positions that anger progressives. She is facing zero competition for the Democratic nomination.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed a budget last year that cut taxes, created Education Freedom Accounts, and blocked government agencies from using race-based CRT content. And for his trouble, he is facing five GOP primary opponents.

And that, political observers say, is the difference between New Hampshire progressives and far-right conservatives: Conservatives fight and progressives tweet.

New Hampshire progressives went after Hassan on Twitter again last week, for example, accusing the Democratic incumbent of hurting minority communities because of her stance on immigration. 

But so far, the same progressive community has failed to hold Hassan to account in real life.

Using news that racist flyers targeting immigrants were being distributed in Nashua, activist Asma Elhuni called out Hassan for her record on immigration.

“People are saying no to hate because of a racist flyer against immigrants in Nashua. We need this same pushback against @SenatorHassan. Her policies are actually more dangerous than fliers that incite violence. She is actually causing violence,” Elhuni claimed.

Progressives like state Rep. Maria Perez (D-Milford) have been trying for months to speak with Hassan about her position on Title 42 and her newfound support for building a wall at the southern border to no avail. Activist Alissandra Rodriguez-Murray said Hassan is basically running for re-election as a member of the GOP.

“Unfortunately, @Senator Hassan has chosen to run as a Republican in Dem clothing. For months constituents have begged her to hear us on this issue and she has refused, pandering instead to racists who demand ‘border control.’ We will not sacrifice our people for her reelection,” Rodriguez-Murray said on Twitter.

Even New Hampshire Quakers, famous for their pacifist beliefs, are hitting Hassan hard for her immigration platform. The American Friends Service Committee called on Hassan to rethink her stance on Title 42, which allows the United States to expel immigrants and those seeking refuge as asylum seekers.

@Maggie_Hassan, asylum seekers and other immigrants are our family members, our neighbors, and our community members; your actions should be in service to, not in opposition to, their well-being, their rights, and their dignity,” the Friends wrote on Twitter.

Hassan opposes lifting Title 42, a move President Joe Biden wants to make saying that it would harm security at the border.

“Repealing Title 42 without a plan in place will do nothing to promote a responsible border policy that keeps our country safe and lives up to our humanitarian values. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this bipartisan bill, and I look forward to hearing directly from border agents during my trip to the border this weekend about what additional steps the administration must take to strengthen border security,” Hassan said in a statement.

Hassan took flak for a spring trip to the Southern border where she shot campaign videos calling for tighter security. She even said the border needs more “physical barriers,” aka “The Wall.”

“It’s very clear the administration needs to address certain gaps in the physical barriers along the border,” Hassan said.

And still — no progressive challenge.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas has been even more open in his rejection of progressive policies, but like Hassan, he has yet to pay a price. Pappas supports increased fossil fuel production, has broken his “no fossil fuel” campaign money pledge, and opposes Biden’s student debt bailout — a touchstone of progressive politics. And yet he doesn’t face a primary challenge or significant public criticism from the Granite State left.

The fact that Democrats like Hassan and Pappas are not facing a primary opponent — or even serious discussion of a primary challenge earlier in the cycle — has observers saying there is no progressive movement in the Granite State. Former congressman and outspoken progressive Paul Hodes doesn’t agree.

“If you take a look at many of the younger Democrats who are coming up, and you read the blogs, and you read Twitter, and you follow social media, there is a strong progressive movement that is in line with New Hampshire’s independent and quirky politics,” Hodes told NHJournal during a recent podcast. “But it’s fair to say the more moderate wing of the Democratic party has had more [electoral] success.”

Meanwhile, progressives continue to avoid criticizing their fellow Democrats in the press. Neither Elhuni nor Maggie Fogarty with the American Friends Service Committee responded to requests for comment. Rodriguez-Murray responded by saying she refuses to speak to NH Journal.

“Please remove me from your contact list,” she wrote in a message.

Rodriguez-Murray is angry over NH Journal’s coverage of her Twitter comments referring to Jewish people as termites.

Other progressives are practicing their own form of avoidance. Environmental activist group, 350 NH, for example, is skipping endorsements for federal races this election cycle rather than being forced to denounce Democratic lawmakers like Hassan and Pappas for their embrace of fossil fuels.

That is in stark contrast to activists on the right. In 2016, when conservatives were upset with Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte over her rejection of Donald Trump (among other issues), they ran two other candidates in the general election. Independent Aaron Day took more than 17,000 votes, and Libertarian Brian Chabot got more than 12,000 votes.

Ayotte ended up losing to Hassan by just 1,017 votes.

Progressives have an uphill battle winning in New Hampshire, according to Hodes. Even if New Hampshire voters want some change from their elected officials, most Granite Staters want incremental change, not the big, structural changes progressives favor.

“I’m not sure voters are that attracted or feel comfortable with wholesale change,” Hodes said.

Dems Attack Smith’s Dad-Daughter Cameo in Education TV Ad

Democrats are mocking U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Smith over his appearance in a commercial for an education app that helps students complete their homework.

Gates MacPherson, deputy communications director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, tweeted a screenshot of the ad Smith made for education company Brainly

“In addition to running as a B-tier Senate candidate, Kevin Smith is also a… paid actor, according to his personal financial disclosure, and made $900 from the New England Models Group for appearing in an ad,” MacPherson tweeted.

Smith took the Democratic Twitter snark in stride, saying he only appeared in the ad to support his daughter, who was being featured by Brainly. The ad partially deals with struggles faced by students due to classroom lockdowns — a policy promoted and defended by Democrats like U. Sen. Maggie Hassan.

 

“While my acting career was short-lived and in support of my daughter, Maggie Hassan’s election year act is alive and well, although widely panned by critics,” Smith said.

A wave of post-lockdown research shows critics of closing classrooms were correct: The policy took a disastrous toll on low-income and disadvantaged students but did little to stop the spread of COVID-19.

According to Smith’s campaign, his daughter Lindsay was chosen to be in the ad. COVID procedures mandated that the producers use real parents instead of actors for the parents. 

“While the Democrats and their Teachers Union counterparts were desperately fighting to keep schools shuttered, Kevin’s daughter was chosen to appear in an ad for a remote-learning education platform. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the company required actual parents to appear in the ads with their children, and Kevin was proud to support and appear alongside his daughter in that ad,” said Seb Rougemont with Smith’s team.

“As the proud father of three children in Londonderry public schools, Kevin cares deeply about their education and the education of all students across New Hampshire. Is this seriously what the New Hampshire Democrats are spending their time attacking?”

Brainly offers a peer-to-peer learning platform to support students, teachers, and parents. The company claims to have 350 million users which would make it the biggest online learning platform in the world.

Smith is running in a crowded field to challenge Democrat Hassan. While MacPherson and state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley have slammed Smith, Senate President Chuck Morse, and retired Brigadier General Don Bolduc as “B-tier” candidates, recent polling suggests Hassan is a “C-tier” incumbent at best.

Despite her 99 percent name ID, Hassan leads Smith by just one point, 45-44 percent, according to the Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. She is leading Bolduc 47-46 percent, and she is actually losing to Morse 44-46 percent.

The attack also opens the door for Smith and his fellow Republicans to hit back. President Joe Biden is imposing new rules on charter schools that will make it harder for them to accommodate more students. As the liberal New York Times reports:

“Rules proposed by the Education Department to govern a federal grant program for charter schools are drawing bipartisan backlash and angering parents, who say the Biden administration is seeking to stymie schools that have fallen out of favor with many Democrats but maintain strong support among Black and Latino families.”

Asked by NHJournal if she supports the new rules, Hassan declined to respond.

“Hassan’s flacks are attacking an education TV ad while her Joe Biden and her party bosses attack charter schools, keeping communities from getting the quality education and classrooms they need,” Smith said.

Hassan’s First TV Ad Targets Biden, Fellow Dems Over Gas Prices

A candidate in the U.S. Senate race is out with a new ad promising to take on President Joe Biden and her fellow Democrats to lower gas prices for the average American.

No, it is not another Republican entering the crowded GOP primary, but endangered incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Fresh off her poorly-received trip to the southern border where she was criticized for calling for more wall construction, Hassan’s new ad distances the first-term incumbent from her party and president.

“I’m taking on members of my own party to push a gas tax holiday,” Hassan says in the ad out Monday. “And I’m pushing Joe Biden to release more of our oil reserves. That’s how we lower costs and get through these times.”

Hassan’s ad is getting noticed by national political reporters who see it as another signal Democrats in competitive races will be running away from Biden as the midterms approach.

“We’ve seen plenty of ads from Republicans this election cycle seeking to pin blame on Biden and congressional Democrats for higher gas prices,” writes The Washington Post. “In a new ad from New Hampshire, Sen. Maggie Hassan, a vulnerable Democrat, has now embraced the issue, too.”

“New ad for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who continues to distance herself from Biden ahead of November,” tweeted Natalie Allison of Politico.

And in an article headlined, “This ad tells you a whole lot about Joe Biden’s political problems,” CNN’s Chris Cillizza said notes Hassan is willing to be openly critical of the sitting president.

“[Hassan’s] message is unmistakable,” Cillizza wrote.

“1) Gas prices are a major problem in the country.
2) Biden and Democratic leaders aren’t doing enough to solve it.
3) Hassan isn’t afraid to tell her party — and her President — that they need to do better.”

Not every New Hampshire Democrat is delighted by Hassan’s campaign tactics.

“Maggie is going to lose her base if she tries to separate herself from Biden by running to his right,” tweeted state Rep. Eric Gallager (D-Concord) “Biden has been doing a much better job than she has. This has been seen most recently on Title 42 where Biden was on the right side of it, and Maggie was on the wrong one.”

Party activist Carlos Cardona dinged Hassan for her ad, saying she should be focusing on liberal priorities instead, like those found in Biden’s abandoned Build Back Better bill.

“If our Senator is serious about helping Granite Staters, she should start by not giving away money to gas companies. Pass the #ChildTaxCredit or do a form of #UBI for all  #NHPolitics,” Cardona tweeted.

Rebecca Beaulieu with the environmental activist group 350 NH said Hassan should do more to help with climate initiatives instead of helping oil companies’ profit.

“Sen. Hassan should instead be calling for a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax: this would raise billions of dollars that could be sent to Americans to help with the costs of high gas prices. Big oil doesn’t deserve to make huge profits off the climate crisis they created. Exxon, Chevron, and other big oil companies are making huge profits because of their high gas prices,” Beaulieu said.

Republicans say they are delighted to see Hassan attacking Democrats, believing it will only discourage her party’s base without converting any independents. They note she has voted with President Biden 98 percent of the time. “Maggie Hassan’s campaign strategy is to pretend she has no voting record.  She is trying to completely remake herself in the final seven months of the race and pretend no one notices.  Well, everyone does notice and won’t be fooled so easily,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson T.W Arrighi said Monday.

Don Bolduc, one of the Republicans running in a primary to unseat Hassan, said there is no way to separate her policies from Biden’s.

“Sen. Hassan promising relief on gas prices is the equivalent of an arsonist saying they can help put out a fire. The Biden-Hassan anti-energy agenda got us here, and the only way out is sending Hassan packing” Bolduc said.

Bruce Fenton, the crypto-millionaire running in the primary, blames Hassan’s staff for the incoherent messaging, and Hassan for failed leadership.

“Her marketing consultants and handlers seem sort of all over the place, so it’s not really clear what she’s attempting to say she stands for,” Fenton said. “Her voting record speaks for itself. Politicians who support terrible policies always try to distract voters, but this won’t work this time.”

Fenton might have a point. While Hassan has recently been vocal in pushing for a gas tax holiday during the inflationary price spikes, she was also responsible as governor for saddling New Hampshire families with an additional $240 million in gas taxes since 2014. Hassan’s four cents a gallon hike, passed in 2014, added $30 million a year in new taxes. It was at the time the first increase in decades.

And Hassan has long supported restrictions on oil and gas production, including Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, a move the senator continues to support.

Kevin Smith, the former Londonderry town manager in the running to challenge Hassan, said the senator keeps stealing positions from the GOP as she frantically tried to win reelection.

“If Hassan keeps trying to run from her far-left record at this rate, by the time September rolls around she will have called for the election integrity she voted against, decried the out-of-control spending she voted for, and railed against Biden’s foreign policy disasters she stood silently by. It’ll be interesting to see how her first speech at CPAC is received given her long, far-left record that runs contrary to her election-year moderate makeover rhetoric,” Smith said.

State Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, said Hassan’s political maneuvering is obvious, and won’t fool any voters.

“Maggie Hassan votes for Joe Biden’s agenda and nominees 98 percent of the time. It’s laughable she would even try to distance herself from her best friend in the Washington Swamp with her latest gimmick ad,” Morse said. “Whenever President Biden comes to New Hampshire, she’s there for the photo-op. We need real, American First energy solutions to combat our current problems – not gimmicks from someone who did nothing while Keystone was shut down and we started funding dictators’ bloody war machines across the globe instead of producing oil in North America. When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll actually take on Joe Biden and his backward energy policy head on.”