New Hampshire Union Leader Survey: Is New Hampshire Turning into Massachusetts?

 Cross-posted at Grizzly Groundswell

 Last Sunday the New Hampshire Union Leader started an on-line survey that ran all week. Today the results were released, and to my surprise they are extremely exciting. The survey was called “The Massification of New Hampshire, is New Hampshire Becoming too much like Massachusetts?”

Nearly nine of 10 readers who participated in an online survey believe that southern New Hampshire is becoming more like Massachusetts — and most are not happy about it.

Eighty-four percent of the nearly 900 people who took part in the informal UnionLeader.com survey are concerned that the “traditional culture” of New Hampshire is changing as people move here from other states — including 63 percent who are “very” concerned. Only 10 percent were “not very concerned,” while six percent were “not concerned at all.”

 The spread of the Nanny State is what seems to have most people upset. Here are some of the responses:

Name redacted, 56, said he supports the libertarian Free State Movement and is “disgusted with all the Nanny Staters” moving here

“We are becoming a ‘nanny’ state — our individual rights are being trampled on by left-wing liberals who know what’s best for everyone,” wrote Name redacted of Londonderry, 60, who moved here from the Bay State more than 20 years ago.

Name redacted, 54, another transplant, said New Hampshire is starting to look like its southern neighbor, “with no smoking laws, higher cig taxes and attempts at the seat belt laws too.

Name Redacted, 45, was among those who said politics is the biggest change. “Live Free or Die, open spaces and independent thinking is being replaced with We Know What’s Best for You, Let’s Build as Much as We Can, and the Politically Correct Way of thinking,” she wrote.

 I find this survey to be very encouraging heading forward, hopefully people are beginning to realize the mistake from last November and are ready to take back our state from the liberal, hand-holding, know whats best for you, politicians.

 I expected this poll to show people fed up with what is happening here, but what I find exciting about this survey is how many people are fed up. Almost 9 out of 10 surveyed believes New Hampshire is headed in the wrong direction. This was a survey of 900 people, which I believe is a rather large sample as polls and surveys go.

 Here is a graph of the survey breakdown:

 This survey will mean nothing unless the voter’s unhappiness drives them to the polls and we elect a governor other than John Lynch, who has quickly changed the face of New Hampshire in the wrong direction. It is time for a change, and that change needs to start at the top.

 I have stated in the past that I thought New Hampshire would go through one more liberal election cycle before voters would see the light and change course. This survey has me more optimistic than ever before that we could take back New Hampshire in the next election cycle. I have to curb my enthusiasm, and not read too much into this survey. But it is great news indeed.

 This does lead me to something I talked about in this post. And that is my perceived notion that Ron Paul is gaining some momentum in New Hampshire. In that post I said:

I started questioning myself on this, asking myself if I was crazy. How could the state which overwhelmingly in last November’s election voted for liberal, hand-holding, we know what’s best for you, ban everything that’s bad for you, nanny state politicians all of a sudden vote for Ron Paul? Ron Paul, who is perceived as a strict constitutionalist, and in favor of individual rights and a decentralization of the federal government. This seems to be the kind of candidate New Hampshire would shy away from, at least judging from the last election. Then I started thinking about the dynamics of last November’s election. Disgruntled Republicans didn’t show up to vote, an overwhelming amount of Democrats did vote, and Independents broke for Democrats. Independents in New Hampshire equal 40% of the voters, the largest block of voters. Could it be that those disgruntled Republican voters are even more disgruntled now that they see how their short-sighted no-vote protest has hurt the state? Could it be that they are so aggravated at the way New Hampshire has become liberalized that they are now doing a 180 and looking at a candidate such as Ron Paul?

 I think that just the fact that someone like Ron Paul may be gaining any type of momentum in New Hampshire may be an indicator of how fed up New Hampshire voters are our new left way of thinking. Of course if Ron Paul ever did somehow win the nomination it would insure a Hillary Clinton presidency, we could win back the state and lose the country. But I don’t want to think about that right now. Right now I just want to think about the possibility that New Hampshire voters are fed up with the leadership in New Hampshire and are ready for a change.

 Let us TAKE BACK OUR STATE.

Read the whole Union Leader article here.