Donate today and get a free, signed copy of David Sirota's New York Times bestseller The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington

GOP Jams Democracy

How high did the Republicans’ New Hampshire phone scheme reach?

By Paul Kiel

In October 2002, just weeks before Election Day, Chuck McGee, executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee (NHRSC), hit on what seemed like a brilliant idea. His party faced a number of close races, the most important of which was the open seat Senate race between Rep. John Sununu (R) and Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D). Every vote counted,… return to article

  • subscribe to print magazine

  • Zoom OutZoom In Reader Comments (5)

    Page 1 of 1 pages

    After respectably acknowledging circumstantial evidence in the third to last paragraph, the author declines into nothing more than speculation and insinuation in the final two paragraphs. The anticipation in the author’s writing is almost palpable: “Maybe this is the scandal that will finally kill them!” It’s more of the desperate, never-ending search for the silver bullet.

    United States Posted by jeffc on May 30, 2006 at 2:59 PM

    Yeah, jeffc, I suppose it’s kind of like when you drive down the road and everyone in the car is overcome by a gagging stench that smells remarkably like a skunk.  Most will quickly look around for the offending source, but if no squashed little black and white creature is readily seen in the road, there is one reluctant passenger with a clothespin on his nose who will insist on passing off everyone else’s certainty of skunk origin as being merely “circumstantial evidence, speculation and insinuation.” Sometimes, the stench is so obvious and overpowering that the probability of a skunk being present in the area is pretty high by anyone’s standards.

    United States Posted by bootsrey on May 30, 2006 at 4:09 PM

    Actually, it’s quite a bit more like having a passenger in the car who desperately hopes that any and every hint of any aroma whatsoever is a skunk.

    United States Posted by jeffc on May 31, 2006 at 10:03 AM

    well the fact is that passenger sometimes finds a skunk, this seems pretty skunkish. Too bad the democrats didnt think of it tho, because they would have done it if they had the imagination, then I would be reading this in the National Review.

    United States Posted by Vanella on May 31, 2006 at 7:23 PM

    Had the Democrats done the phone jamming, you probably would have read about it in National Review. However, in all likelihood, the National Review piece would have avoided the speculation and insinuation.

    United States Posted by jeffc on Jun 1, 2006 at 10:27 AM
    Page 1 of 1 pages
  • register a new account »Posting Security

    To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.
Also by Paul Kiel
Popular Discussions