The Purple State is a Problem: Sen. Hassan, U.S. Senator Nikki Haley and the Implications on Access to Abortion
Hassan, who also served as governor before becoming a senator in 2017, expects the contest to go down to the wire in this purple state, where the current governor is a Republican but its congressional delegation is comprised of Democrats.
Many voters say rising costs are the top issue, regardless of political stripe. But access to abortion is animating the Democratic base and a sizable chunk of independents, over 40% of the state’s electorate, who warn that flipping a blue seat red in the midterms could lead to a Republican-controlled Senate that decides to take up legislation to institute a federal abortion ban.
The debate was particularly testy – far more so than their first contest. The problem is that the votes of the Democrats have driven inflation, and that is what Bolduc accused Hassan of. Hassan accused Bolduc of singing a big oil song, saying that the Republican’s views on abortion can cost women their lives in some cases.
“I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying Trump won the election, and damn it, I stand by [it],” Bolduc said during a mid-August debate. After the primary he tried to backtrack, saying that he had done research and found the election wasn’t stolen.
But since that walk back, Bolduc has struggled to fully deny the 2020 election was stolen, including raising the unsubstantiated possibility of 2022 election impropriety.
More mainstream GOP figures are backing him despite his recent reversals of his previous hardline stance. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo endorsed a potential presidential candidate. Nikki Haley, former U.N. ambassador and another potential candidate for the GOP nomination in 2024, joined Bolduc for a rally in Rochester, her second time on the campaign trail for him.
Haley slammed the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan as a failure, as well as the cost of home heating, which she tied to Biden.
The Issue of Senator Bolduc on Abortion During his First-time Democrat Campaign: Women, the Economy, and the Future of the American Economy
Abortion has been one of the issues that Bolduc has shifted on to. He’s said he would “always default for a system that protects lives from beginning to end.” But on the campaign trail, he emphasizes that the issue should be left to the states to decide. When asked if that meant he’d vote no on a federal abortion ban, Bolduc said that he had said that. I’m not sure how many times I need to say it. I can put together a skit for you.”
On one side of the abortion issue are women, while on the other side are men. Barbara Dunnington, a Bolduc supporter, said the economy is a bigger factor for her than abortion.
“I think obviously some people are going to put that at the top of their list, but if you can’t pay your bills, if you can’t buy food, if you can’t hang on to a job with the stock market going up and down and we’re going into a recession, as far as I’m concerned, abortion is not that crucial.”
But Kimberly Valcin, a first-time New Hampshire voter and Democrat who greeted Hassan at a campaign stop in Hanover, told NPR, “Top of mind issues for me are things like women’s rights.”
She spoke about the infrastructure bill delivering money to road and rail projects, as well as legislation boosting American manufacturing of semi-conductors that will help small businesses in the state and resolve supply chain issues that many complain are still hurting their bottom lines. Hassan also touted the bill Democrats passed without GOP support that includes tax cuts for energy efficient improvements and lowers prescription drug prices.
Hassan made a point to put some distance between herself and Biden on the economy, saying, “The administration was too slow to recognize the long term reality of inflation. They did not react quickly enough. She was one of those who pushed the White House to release more oil from the reserve.
One steel company employee identified herself as a democrat, but is still undecided which candidate to support. She voted for Biden in 2020 but is not a fan of the system in Washington. “I think it needs to change course. She said that the whole thing needed to be “shaken up”.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/25/1131025212/new-hampshire-senate-election-hassan-bolduc
The Correspondence Between Katei and Matt McConnell: What Does Hassan Want to Tell Us About the Proposed Senate Race in New Hampshire?
The Senate Leadership Fund, with ties to Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell, withdrew resources in the last few days of the campaign, a sign they believe that Hassan is poised to prevail.
Katei said that the GOP nominee has “defied the skeptics from the beginning and he is going to take through the finish line to victory.”
One Hassan supporter says one thing is constant in the purple state. “I don’t think there will ever be a race in the history of New Hampshire that will never not be close.”
Republicans need to net just one seat to retake the majority on Nov. 8. A lot of attention is focused on contests in Georgia and Nevada, but the political fate of the Senate could also be decided in New Hampshire.
During the New Hampshire Senate race’s second debate on Thursday, the two candidates sparred over abortion, with a retired Army brigadier general getting emotional as attacks were thrown at him on the issue.
The race was very close during the debate, and both candidates were ready to hammer their opponent less than two weeks before Election Day.
Democrat Don Bolduc: Lying about Planck, Preventing Child Abbirth, and Protecting the Children of Infants in a School Bus Environment
He refused to say whether he would vote for a federal law on abortion. I have said this to McConnell. and I have told Lindsey Graham.” Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, recently rolled out a federal bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger.
I am aware of what these ads do, said Bolduc. I am aware of what these lies do. Lying about everything.
The issue is about women’s rights, her health and her safety as well as Don Bolduc’s long record of Extremism here. “The problems with politicians like Don Bolduc drawing arbitrary lines in terms of these decisions is that they can in fact harm women and cost them their lives in some cases.”
When Bolduc was asked about voting in New Hampshire, he raised the prospect of “school buses loaded with people” who aren’t permitted to vote going to the polls in New Hampshire and thousands of people voting without identification and not coming back to verify their identity.
Someone in the audience seemingly laughed when Bolduc said this, causing the candidate to say, “You can laugh about it, but people in New Hampshire aren’t laughing about it.”
I think we need to verify the claim that he made regarding buses of people, when pressed on that, said Bolduc. That is what I just said. Can you listen for a second? But he added later, “I think it is valid.”
DonBolduc has traveled around this state for over a year stoking the big lie that 2020 was stolen, Hassan said.
The campaign stood up to highlight some of the positions of the man after he claimed that he had never said he wanted to end Social Security.