The 5 major candidates for US Senate faced off again at New England College in Henniker on Wednesday night. Questions were from a panel of ‘journalists’ and all gave a fairly good account of themselves. Here’s a summary, from my feverishly typed contemporaneous notes…
The candidates mostly performed in character: Bruce Fenton refrained from dumping on Chuck Morse; Chuck was constantly shouting about his NH Senate record; Vikram had a very good economic message; Kevin Smith was smooth, telegenic, and dodged the main point of some questions; General Don Bolduc was well informed and sometimes quite brief. Chuck and Kevin accused each other of lying over abortion limits and Planned Parenthood funding, like the two stooges that they are.
Inflation – What should the Fed do?
Bruce – The economy cannot be controlled by politicians in suits in DC, especially because of the Fed printing so much money
Morse – Cut inflation by raising interest rates (Has he heard of stagflation?)
Vikram – The Fed is responsible for money supply (and should stop printing)
Smith – The Fed increased interest rates too late (He actually said we should audit the Fed)
Don – Congressional spending is the problem and the Fed is a private consortium of banks that feeds the spending.
Student loan forgiveness
Bruce – It’s our money he’s using, and academia is part of the problem. Get government out.
Chuck – Election year gimmick. You should figure your own Return on investment on college costs.
Vikram – Paying off loans is theft from people who paid off loans, or did not go to college.
Smith – It’s an election year bribe at taxpayer expense.
Bolduc – It’s simple – pay your own debt.
Abortion
Bruce – Against any Federal laws pro or anti abortion. NH is quite lax.
Chuck – I’m a hero for setting a limit at 24 weeks. Many babies were not available for comment. (Smith lies about my Planned Parenthood funding!)
Vikram – OK with choice as Chuck defined it. (6 month abortions OK)
Smith – Simply return decisions and lawmaking to the states. Morse is not good on life – his fiscal committee tried to fund PP.
Don – Federal government caused division and strife on this matter – return lawmaking to the states.
Two Establishment candidates try to blow each other up!
Who can win against Maggie Hassan?
Bruce – Primary is die hard GOP. General election swings on independents – I can get them.
Chuck – I fought Maggie over the state budget and won. I can beat her.
Vikram – career politicians with no business experience have wrecked the economy – choose a businessman.
Smith – Establishment is trying to buy this seat McConnell for Chuck, and Schumer for Bolduc. They are wrong – I can beat Maggie.
Don – All of the wrecked economy, debt, fiscal and energy policy is a national security threat. I understand how to take on the swamp. (Chuck Schumer is making a bad bet)
Gas prices/EVs/Exit from fossil fuels
Bruce – Government meddling has wrecked the energy market by picking winners and losers.
Chuck – Let’s not meddle and let’s increase oil and gas production.
Vikram – More energy not government choice. More energy sources needed.
Smith – Energy independence – unleash the domestic production and increase nuclear power production.
Don – forced transition to green is killing domestic energy. We need fossil fuels first.
Medicare – how to strengthen
Bruce – Keep promises but transition to a new plan for younger folk.
Chuck – We need to control the DC budget to save Medicare – denied voting for Medicare expansion in NH.
Vikram – We need transparency in federal budgets and we need more choice in Medicare to reduce costs.
Smith – Bring down the cost of healthcare by adding choice, and boost revenue by freeing the economy. NO Medicare for all – Chuck voted for it.
Don – Long term care is broken. We need better elder care and services.
Education – Fed funding of special needs programs
Bruce – This is bad – the feds should stay out of it. It’s a high waste program with lots of expensive bureaucrats – don’t send them the money.
Chuck – NH made up the deficiencies in fed mandates vs fundings.
Vikram – Feds should fund special needs and other mandates – more resources.
Smith – Feds should keep their promises and fund the mandates. Ed dept is funding and prioritizing the wrong things.
Don – Feds should fund special needs programs.
Covid – how was it/ should it be handled
Bruce – Government response was unacceptable tyranny. Totally. He’ll fight it all. No mask, no vax, no vax passports.
Chuck – CDC sent bad messages and rules to states. I fought against mandates, but CDC was a bum steer. (He didn’t stop Sununu, either.)
Vikram – It was all overblown based on bad science and government overreach. Human costs were not factored in.
Smith – Congress has been MIA in investigating the source and cause of Covid. (He says it spend more time on UFOs.) Stop the mandates.
Don – All levels of gov failed with lockdowns and mandates and hurt people and businesses. Don’t vote for people who enabled this shame/lockdown.
School shootings – how to keep kids safe?
Bruce – Solution is not limiting guns. Train and arm teachers.
Chuck – Get involved with mental health issues and harden schools.
Vikram – Deal with the mental health crisis and get kids off social media to limit anxiety and depression caused by them.
Smith – More trained School resource officers and harden schools – and government money to help.
Don – It’s a people problem – the shooters, the failed public officials who did not investigate or react. Hold people accountable.
Making immigration policy work
Bruce – immigration is positive – but it should be orderly, and the border should be controlled.
Chuck – Build the wall and follow immigration laws.
Vikram – Secure border, stop illegal immigration, make legal immigration easier.
Smith – I went to border wall and have a plan – wall, e-verify, no sanctuary cities, no catch and release, then reform legal immigration.
Don – Border must be closed and controlled. Refugee courts near the border to speed turnaround, no catch and release.
Social security promises and solvency
Bruce – Keep promises then END Social Security for younger workers – introduce private schemes – choice for the people.
Chuck – Keep promises for earned benefits – clean up government finances that are siphoning the funds.
Vikram – Keep the promises but look at a different scheme for younger workers – move from defined benefits to defined contributions.
Smith – Must keep promises and beat inflation, then move to a better scheme. Republicans must propose ideas so Democrats do not demonize them.
Don – Congress has wrecked the social security trust fund, and we must keep promises but change to a new scheme for younger workers.
Water “security” and pollution – EPA role
Bruce – Environmental protection is a federal government job (one of few he would support).
Chuck – Some towns had all contaminated water under new EPA standards, and the state stepped in to help fund mitigation
Vikram – Protect environment from real pollutants (not CO2) and hold bad firms accountable.
Smith – Lowered limits for certain pollutants caused costs for local taxpayers .
Don – Military bases all had bad water supply. BUT trust local and state officials, and the people, and dump the EPA!
Foreign policy and foreign trade, and Ukraine war
Bruce – Too much meddling in foreign affairs and wars – we should stay out.
Chuck – Failed leadership in foreign policy and energy leaves us dependent on the wrong people and nations.
Vikram – Peace through strength. Obama and Biden failed to deter aggression. Stop being dependent on China.
Kevin – Peace through strength, like Trump/Pompeo.
Don – Bad leadership in both foreign policy and the military got us into this mess.
Closing statements
Bruce – Legalize pot and drugs. I can appeal across all groups of voters
Chuck – Long record of good budgets in NH Sen. Constitutional Carry, Educational freedom freedom, 6 month abortion limits.
Vikram – A son of immigrants who came for America’s promises and he wants to give back to help preserve America’s promise for future generations.
Smith – I’m a conservative with a record and I want to fix things in DC.
Don – I’ve met all sorts of Granite Staters. They want unity, liberty, and freedom. Quoted from the preamble to constitution: Government’s purpose is preserve life liberty and pursuit of happiness for We The People. Send an outsider to DC.
Summary:
- Bruce toned down the rhetoric a bit, but he’s definitely a libertarian.
- Chuck shouted too much and conflated beating Maggie’s budget veto with being able to win an election. Bragged about his long record, and some of the things he funded.
- Vikram showed good grasp of economics, except for education funding.
- Kevin dodged the central point of some questions, and thinks that the Dept of Education should fund special ed, without grasping that bad education policies and mandates are part of that same package.
- Don had clear, crisp answers on almost everything, with a clear intent to scale back government. Only blind spot was special ed funding by the federal government (Like most others).
- The two stooges (Chuck and Kevin) accused each other of lying over Planned Parenthood funding.
Yes, I’m still supporting General Don Bolduc as the man most likely to help reduce government and avoid pressure from the swamp.
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