birch paper

a PAC too far

So this happened:

Also last week, Standing Up of New Hampshire Families announced the formation of a political action committee (PAC) to support Republican candidates who support the current law and oppose repeal. The PAC is called New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality.

Sean Owen, CEO of wëdu and Printer’s Square in Manchester, is the PAC chairman. The group hopes to raise at least $100,000 to support individual candidates and make independent expenditures in key races.

Look, I get the strategy that with a GOP supermajority in Concord you have to highlight Republican support for marriage equality.  It’s annoying as heck, given how that historic civil right in New Hampshire is largely the achievement of Democrats, but I understand the strategy and I endorse it. I don’t care who gets credit for it so long as the law remains on the books.

But this PAC is a bridge too far.

It is altogether likely that this will create situations where a current GOP incumbent is getting help against a Democratic challenger who was ousted in 2010 and who courageously voted for marriage in the first place.

Never mind the fact that if the NHGOP retain their majority in House and Senate, and we lose the governor’s seat, the nightmare we have been experiencing for the past year - and must yet experience for one more - will look like child’s play. Not to mention: that scenario will absolutely mean the end of marriage equality.

2 January 2012 ·