While it has been a long-standing tradition of this newspaper, as it is for most New Hampshire journals, to issue presidential endorsements, we tend to agree with Manchester Republican Committee Chair Jeff Frost when he says the state’s voters are “a stubborn bunch of horse traders” who don’t much like being told which candidate to support. Who are we, after all, to predict which candidate will best defeat the other party’s candidate and then go on to be a great president?
Yet, with so much at stake in the national leadership race, and having had a chance to sit down with some of those seeking the highest office in the nation, we feel we have gained a certain perspective that might be useful to voters as they consider the choices and make their decisions.
With that in mind, we can say that Republicans and independent voters could vote for Mitt Romney in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary on Jan. 10 and probably end up with a good president. He has good credentials for the job and a proven track record in overcoming obstacles to good ends.
But our country needs much more than mere “good” — especially when the majority of Americans agree that structural change in how the nation operates is necessary.
Romney has the overwhelming support of the Republican political establishment and the big-money Goldman Sachs crowd on Wall Street. He has accepted more than $32 million in campaign contributions, much of it from organizations that will expect a return on their investment in a Romney White House. Romney is not likely to be the agent of the change that our times demand.
The obvious alternative for those who believe the political process has been corrupted by the political establishment and special interests is the man who for years has predicted the situation we see today: Ron Paul. Overlooked for so long, people on both sides of the political aisle are finding in Paul someone who is not afraid to stand up and denounce Wall Street and the Federal Reserve for fiscal mismanagement. He is not afraid to criticize what Dwight Eisenhower labeled the military-industrial complex which has made fortunes by getting us involved in death and destruction in foreign countries — in the process creating the hatred for Americans that gave life to al-Qaida.
Yet many also are fearful of Paul’s seeming intransigence regarding any foreign involvement. Most recognize that there are times when it is necessary to take a stand and they fear Paul will stall too long.
We have concluded that the right candidate for the job — one who is not bankrolled by Wall Street and the lobbyists on Washington’s K Street but who also has the foreign policy experience to differentiate between real threats and saber-rattling — is Jon Huntsman.
The former Utah governor offers the prospect of genuine change without the strict libertarian ideology that allow detractors to cast Paul’s abilities into question.
The rest of the field can talk about the country’s debt problem, but Huntsman is the candidate who correctly sees the nation’s sea of red ink as not just a financial problem, but a national security issue.
Huntsman is a genuine conservative, but not an ideologue. Having served as U.S. ambassador to China and Singapore, he has a critical understanding of how other countries perceive the United States as well as knowing where the real threats lie.
And Huntsman has spent more time in the state than any other candidate. We were disappointed by his decision to launch negative campaign ads against Mitt Romney and Ron Paul; but, all things considered, Huntsman has shown the right mix of conservatism and critical thinking that this nation needs right now.
For that reason, we ask voters to give Jon Huntsman serious consideration on Jan.10.
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As for the Democratic primary, President Obama did not stop by The Citizen for an editorial board interview, but Bob Greene did. We were struck by his sincerity and the fact that he had a real issue to discuss: an energy plan that, he claims, would solve our problems for 1,000 by taking thorium research off the table.
For those voting Democrat, however, the clear choice is Barack Obama. While the president has been a big disappointment, especially in expanding upon the disastrous policies of George W. Bush — the economic stimulus package first supported by Bush, the use of torture and detention without trial at Guantanamo, and further expansion of the USA Patriot Act — Obama did manage to push through the health care reform package that the majority of Americans have been seeking for decades. Flawed, to be sure, and in need of reform, but it is the one shining example of change that the president was able to deliver.
Copyright © 2012
citizen.com, Laconia, NH. Reprinted
by permission.