New Hampshire

New Hampshire Republicans
by Claudia Fernandez

           Located in upper New England, New Hampshire is one of the most predominately Republican states of the union. A highly rural state, 59% of its 1,137,000 (as of 1994) citizens live in metropolitan areas, none of these areas with a population over 100,000. 98% of New Hampshire’s population in 1990 is white, and it is equally female and male. Although New Hampshire is ranked forty-second in total population as compared with the other fifty states, it is an important player in America’s political theater.
            In 1997, New Hampshire had 713,236 registered voters, 39% of which are Republican, 30% Democrat and 32% Unaffiliated or registered with minor parties. Of the state legislature, 15 out of the 24 state senators and 253 out of the 400 state representatives are Republican. All federal representatives (2 each in both the House and Senate) are Republican.
The significance of these demographics is that in general, state policies lean towards the conservative. The New Hampshire GOP (NHGOP) is a powerful force in state politics. As they are the party of the majority, their tenets and beliefs are closely bound to state agenda.
            The NHGOP mirrors the Republican National Committee (RNC) in its basic, general platform: they believe in limited government, limited spending and taxes, individual liberty, compassion for the truly needy and the strength of the individual, the traditional family, the church and community. However, the NHGOP is uniquely resolved independent of the RNC on myriad issues affecting its citizens.
            Their foreign policy is supportive of America’s principality in leading the world into the next millennium. They affirm the United States’ position as a vanguard of democracy, and a model of economic and technological success to other nations. They promote free trade and the sharing of open markets abroad. They wholly oppose the reduction of military and defense funding, as well as using American troops to “police” NATO and UN conflicts.
            On the home front, the NHGOP’s national policies run the gamut. Above all, they value the traditional family. They are opposed to same-sex marriages, alternate-lifestyle adoptions, and single parenting. They also feel that abortion and pro-choice ideology undermine this rich family environment. They propose a championing of marriage, a streamlining of the adoption process and a banning of the use of public funds to finance and promote abortion. They consider these views to be integral parts of a system with strong family values. They recognize parents as the primary educators of the family, innately endowed with the liberty to choose their children’s education (be it parochial, home schooling, etc…). Second to parents, they believe that local communities in control of education create strong, successful school systems. In order to promote these policies, they propose the establishment of readily available charter schools, the empowerment of teachers to maintain orderly, disciplined classrooms, and the removal of mandates from state and federal school aid so that parents and local taxpayers can make educational decisions for themselves.
            As liberty is one of the axioms affirmed by the NHGOP for the New Hampshire citizenry, freedom of action is a universal thread that runs throughout the party’s platform. For example, they oppose any legislation that restricts the Second Amendment in any way. They uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. They also support the rights of adults to choose the use of safety belts, harnesses and helmets, as opposed to a state-wide mandated law compelling their use.
The issue of health care is briefly addressed by the NHGOP. They believe in the promotion of patients’ rights, by advocating the awareness of and availability to hospital, insurer, and doctor credentials. They indicate that insurance carriers ought to guarantee the health care decisions of New Hampshire citizens are made solely between the doctor and patient, without the involvement of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or any other third parties.
            As New Hampshire is largely a rural state, the environment is an important issue to its citizens. The NHGOP proposes to promote the preservation of open space and historic/cultural landmarks and areas. They strive to provide public access to New Hampshire’s renowned ponds, and oppose the transformation of the White Mountains National Forest into an national park, thus safeguarding its manifold uses as a profitable, state owned resource.
            Finally, the NHGOP’s positions on the economy, both state and national, are aggressive. In order to bolster the state economy, they wish to encourage tourism to New Hampshire’s many state recreational parks including the White Mountains Preserves- a lucrative skiing retreat. They endeavor to create private sector job positions and broaden public entrepreneurship. Statewide and nationally, they oppose broad-based taxes on sales, income and property. They want to bring businesses into New Hampshire, and so propose to dramatically cut and/ or even eliminate taxes on business profit, enterprise, earning and saving.
            New Hampshire’s “first in the nation” status is a subject of pride for state Republicans. They claim the founding of the Republican Party in 1853. New Hampshire is a key state in national politics, principally because of laws requiring that the New Hampshire Presidential Primary (NHPP) be the first primary held in each voting season. America’s eyes turn towards New Hampshire every four years to see the nation’s political machine in action.
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