We're screwed, and it IS for want of trying.

[rowland]

Whatever scattered victories we may have won at the local level mean little. The REAL power is in Washington and in the governor's office. Did liberty activists make any serious efforts at all to fight on those fronts?

Or we all too busy squabbling over ideological niceties and dissing people we should have supported? The statists win because they focus on winning. We lose because we don't focus on winning. They're professionals. We're hobbyists.

Even if we manage to get ballot access I don't see how in hell we can keep it. THEY will appoint the judges now.

Win a few NH House seats? Big deal. THEY have the governorship AND the courts AND the Executive Council.

I saw some Libertarian candidates in action at Epping. They were pathetic. Only Ron Blevins has any real speaking ability and he doesn't know when to wrap it up. None of them could stand up under real questioning. Neither can Peter Bearse. Bunch of nerds.

I appreciate the NHLA has been trying in a methodical fashion to build something we all need. But it was going way too slow and now I fear it may be too late.

There are a lot of disaffected Republicans now looking for somewhere to go. Where will they go? Where CAN they go? Anybody here know?

Only the Ron Paul people even came close to putting up a real resistance. And they seem to have a very limited vision of how to go about it. Just throw lots of money and volunteers into the campaign come election season. That only works if you're going after sheeple. Sheeples vote statist anyway.

LTEs? Been there done that. The Democrat machine has us way outclassed there, plus the statists own most of the newspapers. Good luck even getting printed, and then you're drowned out.

Our own papers? Okay maybe. But the papers I've seen are just more squabbling over ideological niceties and dissing people we should be helping, only in print. Where's the news? Where's the citizen journalism?

YouTube videos? Who's watching? Who even knows they're out there? Blogs? Same problem. What do we do to publicize them to the masses? Am I the only one even THINKING about this question?

Public Access TV? Same problem and besides it's going away soon.

Lit drops and sign waves? Might just work for local races. But this was NOT a local war.

Wait for the Republican party leadership to come to its senses? That never happened all those years and it's already way late.

I spent the whole damn year trying to find a group that knew how to win and was willing to do what it took. I never found that group. Instead I found political hobbyists. The NHLA maybe came closest to what I was looking for but their efforts were all too little too late.

I tried a few things on my own initiative. One thing I tried was car signs. That seemed to work but I don't have the proper metrics to be sure. And NOBODY else joined me so I don't have many data points. For all I know it could have saved us this year if more people had done it. Maybe not. We'll never know now.

The underdog complex has won. Let's all buy guns and lots of bottled water. Since we couldn't be bothered to prevent the apocalypse we might as well enjoy it. Keep lots of ammo handy for when the government comes calling because we just elected the looters to high office.

Damn I'm disgusted. How the f--k could you just LET them win without a real fight?

[Rocketman]

Win a few NH House seats? Big deal.

On behalf of all of us who worked, quite professionally, to make sure the forces of liberty picked up a few key House seats, Rowland, you can go screw yourself.  You are the guy who wasted countless hours this year on a candidate who never had a prayer while some of us were helping real candidates, so stop telling other activists how they should spend their time and money.  I agree with some aspects of your rant, but your tone sucks.  So... get a life, dude.

The NH state house is an ideal place for political newcomers to begin their political careers, and it's essential to build from the bottom up.  So that's what we're doing.  In two years it will be time to elect a truly pro-liberty state senator or two.  There is no magic bullet; the only approach that can work is a gradual revolution of ideas that trickles up through the state house and into other branches.  Thankfully a lot of people realize this...

[Mittens]

I'm going to assume this is a message to the vast majority of Americans who wasted their vote on either Obama or McCain. Yea, dumbasses, how could you let Washington become the bastion of power it was never supposed to be (according to our founders)? How could you let them take your rights? How could you let them fool you, year after year, to vote for the same candidates who are capable of saying the word "freedom" without any idea of what it means?

I've given up hope on Washington. The best thing that could happen to it is an Independence Day-style alien invasion. My hopes are pinned on NH--getting pro-freedom individuals elected here and doing my best to stem the tide of government growth locally, where I have a chance of succeeding.

As for the federal elections, it's not as dramatic of a change as everyone says it is. The bed we'll be sleeping in has been many years in the making. I just hope it wakes people up.

[Slim]

I agree with Rochelle and Rocketman DC is a lost cause and I think it has been a lost cause for decades if not centuries. If the NH house gained a few liberty minded reps and if someone that is liberty minded gets in to the NH senate that would be a victory in my eyes.

Obeatme and McCrap that was truly a choice between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. I would be just as scared if the election went the other way just scared for different rights.

[rowland]

There is no magic bullet; the only approach that can work is a gradual revolution of ideas that trickles up through the state house and into other branches.  Thankfully a lot of people realize this...

Well there's gradual and then there's gradual and then there's too damn slow.

While we're trying to trickle up Washington is gleefully peeing down on us. Statist hegemony over the media and the schools allows them to force their ideas down to the local level. That's what we're competing with. A trickle on our part won't do it especially since gravity is on their side.

The way I see it it all comes back to the same old question: how to get the message out wholesale?

[lloyd danforth]

I don't know who this guy is.

Just a fluke that I know who Rocketman is.

Rochelle is Rochelle.

I'm Lloyd Danforth.

I'm thinking if you don't use your real name on these forums you should be ignored.

[rowland]

I don't know who this guy is.

Just a fluke that I know who Rocketman is.

To whom are you referring?

For the record my real name is Rowland.

[lloyd danforth]

Well then, I apologize.  Perhaps I know you by you first name or just your face.  I guess Mackler is going to turn out to be John . Mackler

Someone just pointed out that if Cal Pratt is in we 500% more Porcs in the house than we had.

[rowland]

Win a few NH House seats? Big deal.

On behalf of all of us who worked, quite professionally, to make sure the forces of liberty picked up a few key House seats, Rowland, you can go screw yourself.  You are the guy who wasted countless hours this year on a candidate who never had a prayer while some of us were helping real candidates, so stop telling other activists how they should spend their time and money.  I agree with some aspects of your rant, but your tone sucks.  So... get a life, dude.

You know if a few more people here had helped Peter Bearse and he had still crashed and burned I would gladly have conceded this point. But as it is it's fair to wonder just whose fault it is that he never had a chance?

I can concede part of it was his fault because I have earned the right to criticize him. But I won't go so far as to say he wouldn't have had a chance with some more backing.

And I didn't completely blow off the state Rep candidates the way some people completely blew off the higher level races. You can say I spread myself too thin on the ground but at least I never just wrote anyone off.

There's no way to disprove a self fulfilling prophecy so you can just pat yourself on the back when the guy you didn't back fails spectacularly. The NHunderground crowd go whole hog with it but some people here just do it more selectively. Maybe the real difference is whether you give up on politics entirely or only at certain levels.

[Giggan]

You know if a few more people here had helped Peter Bearse and he had still crashed and burned I would gladly have conceded this point. But as it is it's fair to wonder just whose fault it is that he never had a chance?

'Why were you guys working on x campaign that I told you wasn't going to win? Maybe had you just worked on Y campaign which wasn't going to win, things would be different!'

I see all this as pointless bickering. Let's do more, complain less.

Unless the complaints are legit, like someone else's activism you see as hurting the cause. And when that is the case, addressing it professionally is preferred to condescention.

[rowland]

I see all this as pointless bickering. Let's do more, complain less.

1. Do more definitely! But don't just throw effort at the problem. I've been doing something like that because that was the level I was at. I had to try different things to get a feel for what works and what doesn't work. Now I want to work smarter and not just harder.

2. In order to work smarter we need to determine what didn't work and why. So no the bickering isn't pointless, it's a necessary part of the process.

I'd love to focus on the positives but I'm having a hard time finding them right now.

[ResearchFirst]

I'm in as rep number eight for Goffstown, but it was a squeaker, numbers seven and nine were both Dems. Still the opportunity to be a voice for liberty in Concord is another small step in the right direction. A persistent message can change minds over time, if it's the right message. I like the thought of being in a position to point out the poor choices the Dems routinely push onto the voters, but you can't really blame them for their ignorance if they've never been told anything different.

    Cal

[Giggan]

1. Do more definitely!

Good, then keep it up.

2. In order to work smarter we need to determine what didn't work and why. So no the bickering isn't pointless, it's a necessary part of the process.

Of course. But there's a difference between, "I'm doing this because of these reasons, what do you guys think?" and "Why are you doing that? The real fight is blah blah blah."

[Pat McCotter]

Jenn Coffey (Congrats Jenn!!!) won in Merrimack District 6. Unfortunately Priscilla Lockwood was knocked out in the process.

[cathleeninnh]

The Priscilla Lockwood who scored a D+ on the 2008 scorecard?