The NH state primary is over, and we have an opponent. Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter is going to be facing former Congressman Jeb Bradley in the general election. CSP defeated Bradley in 2006. Bradley was a two-term GOP incumbent who didn’t take Carol seriously. After all, he had tons of campaign cash, he is a multimillionaire, and she was just some social worker. Sheesh – that’s almost as bad as a community organizer!

The Bradley camp has said many times that Bradley lost because of the strong anti-war sentiment/anti-Bush sentiment that saw many Republicans lose seats all over the country. It’s a neat little justification, and one that avoids having to face the truth.

In 2006 Jeb Bradley was out of touch with the priorities of NH voters. Bradley was the only member of the entire New England Congressional delegation who voted in favor of amending the US Constitution to forbid same gender marriage.  Bradley consistently fought against increasing the minimum wage. He voted for the REAL ID Act. Since Bradley was fired, NH has passed a Civil Unions bill, increased the minimum wage, and voted against taking part in REAL ID.

Most egregious of all was Bradley’s stance on Social Security. He campaigned in 2002 saying that he was against privatizing Social Security. By 2005, he’d begun saying that we “needed to explore all the options.” It’s certainly a coincidence that he changed his tune after President Bush visited NH.  NH residents were strongly against destroying  (privatizing) Social Security, yet Bradley refused to show leadership and take a stand right up to the bitter end. On election day in 2006, he was on The Exchange (NHPR) refusing to take a stand. 
Jeb’s been out of work for a couple of years now. There’s no sign that he’s learned from his mistakes, no sign that he’s any more in touch with NH priorities than he was in 2006.

Carol Shea-Porter knows the priorities of NH voters. She’s working to ensure that we don’t freeze to death in our homes this winter. She's working hard to get our veterans the care they deserve. She knows that we need to protect and preserve Social Security. Jeb’s always done his best to represent the top 1%.  Carol has made good on her promise to represent the bottom 99% of us.  We must ensure that Jeb stays unemployed. He can afford it. We can’t afford him.

http://sheaporter.com/

susanthe is the netroots outreach director for the Shea-Porter campaign