New Hampshire congressmen feel the heat for healthcare reform

  New Hampshire’s two congressmen– Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter both of whom voted in favor of the healthcare reform bill– have returned home and are facing the heat for their healthcare reform votes.

  There is one difference in the approach that my congressman, Carol Shea-Porter, is taking this year now that the bill has passed; last year she would not face the voters face to face in town hall meetings, preferring to do telephone town halls in an effort to face the voters without actually standing before them, while this year she is actually holding town hall meetings. I find this change in tactics very telling; last year she decided not to face the voters and defend her position while the debate was in full motion but this year now that the bill has passed and she is facing re-election she is willing to face the voters to defend her vote. This appears to be a desperate act and a political attempt to sell what she did with her healthcare vote to her constituents– most of whom opposed the position that she took. She did not dare to face the voters in person when she knew she was taking a position that her voters opposed, but now that the vote has been taken and there is nothing that we can do she is willing to face the voters in an attempt to stave of almost certain defeat.

  She cowardly ducked facing the voters last year while the issue was still in doubt, but now that her re-election could be in peril she feels it necessary to face the voters in person to try to sell them on this legislation.

  Much like other Democrats across the country, Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter are hoping that as time passes the opposition to healthcare reform will die down and people will come around to their side on this issue. While I don’t think that will happen I do fear that the opposition towards this bill will subside as people begin to become apathetic to the issue. I fear that people will forget the underhanded manner in which this bill was passed. Only time will tell.

  Both Paul Hodes’s and Carol Shea-Porters poll numbers are very low and their seats are ripe for the picking. Paul Hodes is running for the senate to take the place of retiring Republican Judd Gregg and there are two good Republican candidates for this senate seat– Kelly Ayotte and Bill Binnie– if his approval ratings do not improve there is a good chance that either one of these candidates could keep this seat in Republican control. Currently both Republicans hold double digit leads over Paul Hodes. On a side note, I am still undecided on which candidate I will support in the primary.

  If the people of New Hampshire remain engaged on this issue Paul Hodes could find it increasingly difficult to win this seat– and Democrats could find it just as difficult to hold onto the seat that he is vacating in order to run for the senate–  although the wildcard here is the money that will pour in from the national Democrat party and the special interest groups.

  Carol Shea-Porter currently faces long odds in her re-election bid as Republicans line up to challenge her. Again, if the people of New Hampshire remain engaged she could be on the outside looking in while the wildcard is the national money that will be siphoned into her race.

  I also find it very interesting that Nancy Pelosi attended a fundraiser for Carol Shea-Porter, but the fundraiser was held in Boston Massachusetts instead of in New Hampshire. Was she so afraid of the people she represents that she did not wish to appear at a fundraiser with Nancy Pelosi in the state that she is supposed to represent?

  The political climate in New Hampshire appears to be on the verge of changing and we just have to hope that the voters do not forget what our two representatives did to us on this healthcare bill. We must not forget the underhanded manner in which this bill was shoved down our throats. If this bill was as good as we are being told, the president wouldn’t have to run around the country telling us how good it is and Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter would have to rest their hopes for re-election on the wish that people will eventually come around to their position on this bill.

 Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter are supposed to represent us, they are supposed to vote the way we want them to, but they think that they know better than we do what is good for us and they are basing their re-election prospects on the hope that the people will realize that they are smarter than us and know what is best for us, but that is not going to happen. We sent them to Washington to represent us but they fell in line with the Democrat party and voted to represent Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid over the people who sent them to Washington in the first place.

  I do not think that voters will come around on healthcare reform, I just hope that as the voters go back to their everyday lives that they do not forget what these two people did to us and how they abandoned us in order to represent the radical agenda of the president.

  At one point during a recent town hall meeting, Carol Shea-Porter reminded the people that they would have the chance to oust her in a few short months, a man replied to much applause, “and we will.”

  We need to make sure this man’s words come true, if Carol Shea-Porter feels it is more important for her to represent Washington, we do not need her representing us any more. We need to find a representative that will listen to the people that he/she is supposed to represent.