April 24, 2022
IF SUNUNU OR AYOTTE WERE RUNNING IT WOULD BE OVER:
In N.H. Senate race, a swirl of activity and a lack of clarity (James Pindell, April 23, 2022, Boston Globe)
Incumbent first-term Senator Maggie Hassan entered the midterm year as the most vulnerable Democrat in the country. She won in 2016 by barely more than 1,000 votes, her approval ratings are consistently around 35 percent, and Democrats are expected to get crushed this year in swing areas like New Hampshire. Democrats are already hanging onto the slimmest of margins in the Senate. [...]Hassan has her own problems. Last week, she took a bold stand on immigration that many in the Democratic base felt sounded Republican. Hassan has tried to brand herself as a political moderate, but rarely has the base gotten this upset with her.While many Democrats have disagreed with the Biden administration's decision to quickly eliminate the Title 42 regulations preventing the processing of asylum claims on the Southern border due to the pandemic, she took it a step further. She went to the border, cut a digital video there, and said that parts of the border wall should still be built.Open letters to Hassan from Latino groups began popping up on the Web. Then a Democratic state representative gave a speech against it that made the rounds. Hassan needs to lock down every Democratic vote she can get this November.
Recall that she only won because Donald was such a drag on the GOP ticket. Our races across the entire state tend to follow the national trend, so even running against a cipher she's likely to lose. Posing as a Trumpist was ill-advised.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 24, 2022 12:00 AM