The GOP: 'Grand Obstructionist Party'
Republicans Continue to Block Will of the People on Just About Everything

Guest Perspective/Ray Buckley

It is sad and shameful times as Republicans are dragging their feet, holding up the legislative process, and standing in the way of progress on the issues most important to the people of New Hampshire and across this great nation. Sens. Judd Gregg and John E. Sununu continue to put their loyalty to the President and their political party ahead of the interests of the Granite State and our brave men and women in uniform. It is not surprising that in the latest polls, 66 percent of independent voters say they will vote in the Democratic primary. This dramatic shift is because Independents in New Hampshire strongly oppose the Iraq War and are pleased at how Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes are fighting to bring our troops home. The landslide re-election by Gov. John Lynch and historic victories by Democrats strongly indicates that Independents are realizing more and more which Party is fighting for them and which Party is more interested in standing in the way of progress. The UNH poll is a striking reminder of how the largest bloc of New Hampshire voters - Independents - continue to sway toward the Democrats during this decade. If Republicans stick to their obstructionist ways in Concord and Washington, we look forward to welcoming them into the Democratic Party, permanently.
In their first six months in office, Reps. Shea-Porter and Hodes have been keeping their promise to New Hampshire’s voters by working to change course in Iraq. Every step of the way, Republicans like Sununu, have shown that they lack the leadership and backbone to stand up to the President. Just one day after a new National Intelligence Estimate provided additional evidence that Republicans have failed to make our homeland safe and allowed Al Qaeda to rebuild, Sununu chose to protect George W. Bush and his disastrous Iraq policy by voting against an amendment that would have begun a rollback of U.S. forces within four months and redefined the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Earlier this week Gregg attacked New Hampshire’s Congressmen for being partisan and standing with the Democratic majority in their effort to win this war. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Bush has fed the American public one war rationale after another and passive Republicans, like Sununu, have stood by and watched while one lousy policy failure after another has been recommended. It isn't good enough anymore to say, '’Well, I supported some other amendment that didn't have a timetable, that didn't bring the troops home.”
Sununu not only tows the Party line by supporting failed policies in Iraq, he is in lock-step with Republicans down in Washington on just about everything. Recently, Sununu voted against expanding stem cell research and the Employee Free Choice Act, which would protect workers' right to organize without fear of harassment or intimidation. Sununu has made it clear that he stands with the president, and not the people of New Hampshire.
I’m not the only one questioning Gregg and Sununu’s continued participation in the GOP “Grand Obstructionist Party.” The Portsmouth Herald ["Troop deadline is bit of sanity for Iraq war," July 19] called into question the logic behind their continued support for the current war policy - “‘logic, as best as we can reckon, that says if you think things are bad now, the Democrats' plan for major troop withdrawals will make things even worse. Instead of political posturing, Congress should focus on getting the policy right.’ Striving to get ‘the policy right’ is a remarkable admission well into the fifth year of war and occupation. Political posturing is a matter of perspective, but it's legitimate to ask what Sununu and Gregg - or Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - have been doing all this time to get the policy right.”
Republicans in Washington will be held accountable for their obstructionism when they face the voters in 2008. Sununu will be forced to make a decision whether he is going to answer New Hampshire’s call to end this war or if he will continue to protect Bush and blindly follow these failed Iraq policies. Every obstructionist step of the way John E. will continue to alienate Independents and prove to voters that the only way to responsibly bring this war to an end and begin to repair America’s reputation here and abroad is to elect Democrats in 2008.
Ray Buckley is the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.