Local Dems Trying to Strengthen, Spread Message

The strong smell of smoke hung over Mill Road in Hampton Sunday afternoon, although luckily, that smoke wasn't caused by a fire or another emergency situation during by the aftermath of Saturday's and power outages.

Instead, the smoke had a much more festive origin, as roughly 40 locals enjoyed a little barbecue as part of the Hampton Town Democratic Committee's annual , which was held at the home of Toni and Jim Trotzer.

The smoke also served as a metaphoric symbol of sorts Sunday, as many of the gubernatorial and congressional candidates who spoke during the cookout said there is a need to spread a strong Democratic message across the Seacoast and the state in general in order to showcase the party's many accomplishments and counteract many of the false claims made by Republicans.

"We need to reach down inside ourselves and pick up our pride," said former State Sen. Jackie Cilley, who told Patch she is considering a run for governor but said it's too "early" to decide either way. "We need to use the information and concrete ideas and accomplishments to fight back and stop apologizing.

"We need to engage in a dialogue, armed with the facts, with the people who are repeating these lies and not try to make anyone feel foolish. We need to show them how progressive policies have helped life in New Hampshire."

The cookout also featured town hall-style speeches and Q and A sessions with several other candidates, including: gubernatorial candidates and Mark Connolly; and First Congressional District candidates Joanne Dowdell, Andrew Hosmer and Carol Shea-Porter.

Many of the questions asked Sunday focused on the Democratic Party's message as well as characterizations by Republicans that Democrats are "reckless taxers and spenders" that are "solely" responsible for the recession and aren't interested in helping small businesses and senior citizens.

The candidates all replied to those questions by pointing out various accomplishments — including Hassan who said the Democrat-proposed state budget that ended on June 30 had a $26 million surplus despite the fact that she said Republicans claimed it would create a deficit — that they said proved many conservatives' claims aren't true.

The candidates also talked about how Republicans have cut the cigarette tax while at the same time cutting university and community college funding by 50 and 30 percent, respectively, which Cilley and others said shows the Republicans' allegiances lay first and foremost with corporations, not with the people and future of New Hampshire.

Hassan, Shea-Porter and others said this kind of information needs to be included in a strong, grassroots message to Democrats to counteract what they called an "aggressive" national Republican ad campaign they said is too large with which to fully compete.

"It's in the way of progress," said Hosmer. "Their sole purpose is to make sure Barack Obama is a one-term president, and I think that's the most egregious thing for a public servant to say. We need leaders who are focused most on working for families and focusing on the economy to rebuild the middle class."

Hampton Democrats are holding a "day of action" in Hampton at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, at in order to spread some of these grassroots messages, as candidates and party leaders plan to go door-to-door and speak with people in downtown about Democratic economic policies and other plans for the future.

Hassan said these kinds of efforts are effective, although she encouraged many of the residents in attendance Sunday to speak with their neighbors and friends about the issues, as she said the message will be more powerful coming from them rather than someone running a campaign.

"What's at stake here isn't small — it isn't small ball, folks," said Hassan. "Republicans have gone to an extreme agenda ... and what they're doing is when the going gets tough, when we need new ideas and need to take care of each other, they've given up. They want to move us backward alone. I want to move us forward together."