Anti Federalist
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"And there's no way - no way - I'll vote for Romney." - Read on, this may be THE issue.
This might be what it takes to shift Romney out of NH frontrunner status.
For those who don't know, "Northern Pass" is a high voltage electric transmission line, attempting to be built by Hydro Quebec, NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, across NH's north country.
It is bitterly opposed by many, including myself, as yet another "taking" by a private, foreign company, of a citizen's private property, and may in fact be in violation of the NH state constitution, an amendment that I helped, in my own small way, get passed in the wake of the atrocious Kelo v. New London SCOTUS decision.
www.livefreeorfry.com
http://burynorthernpass.blogspot.com/
Romney takes a Northern Pass
http://www.concordmonitor.com/artic...ss?SESSf434f4aaa160d36b84a549d160d04068=gnews
By Ben Leubsdorf / Monitor staff
November 2, 2011
When Mitt Romney has breakfast this morning at a $500-a-person fundraiser in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, he'll count Greg Butler among the event's 88 co-chairs.
Butler co-chaired a similar New York fundraiser in September. He donated money to Romney's 2008 presidential campaign and donated $2,500 to the former Massachusetts governor in May.
He's also senior vice president and general counsel for the Northern Pass project, a plan to import hydroelectric energy from Canada along 180 miles of new transmission lines in New Hampshire.
That could cause some trouble for Romney among Northern Pass opponents, who have been vocal in the North Country and elsewhere in the state about the project and the possibility of land being taken by eminent domain for it.
"You're talking about 180 miles of irate voters that will register their disconnect by casting negative votes
against candidates like Romney and positive votes for anybody that comes out in opposition to the Northern Pass," said Joe Drinon, a retired financial adviser and anti-Northern Pass activist from Chichester.
Drinon, a registered Republican, said Romney's tie to a Northern Pass official "is just too close for me. And I was going to vote for Romney. I think it's fair to say my wife was considering it seriously. And there's no way - no way - I'll vote for Romney. I don't care if they run the dogcatcher against him. I'll vote for the dogcatcher."
A copy of the fundraiser invitation was provided by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Butler's role was first reported by Monitor alum Shira Schoenberg for The Boston Globe.
A message seeking comment from Butler was left with a Northern Pass spokesman.
For the record, Romney hasn't come out in support of Northern Pass. But he hasn't exactly come out against it, either.
"Governor Romney hasn't seen the specifics of a final Northern Pass proposal, but he strongly supports local control and opposes any attempt to use eminent domain to take private property for the purposes of a private enterprise," spokesman Ryan Williams wrote in an email.
That's about what Romney said in a June 13 debate at St. Anselm College, where he said that "if land is going to be taken for purposes of a private enterprise, that's the wrong way to go."
That doesn't satisfy Drinon.
"That's not enough," he said. "That's political speak for, 'I don't want to take a stand.' "
And Romney wasn't shy this summer about jumping into another hot-button state issue, backing efforts to pass a right-to-work law over Gov. John Lynch's veto.
Mary Lee, a Northern Pass opponent from Northfield, said she thinks the project has made energy policy in general a more pressing issue for voters in the state. And she doesn't like that Romney has fundraising ties to a project official.
But, she said, she wasn't going to vote for him, anyway.
Independent political analyst Dean Spiliotes said, while there are single-issue voters at both the national and state levels, he thinks Northern Pass probably won't drive the primary election, which so far has been dominated by economic issues.
And unlike right-to-work, he said, there may not be much incentive for Romney to take a strong stand.
"I think there are plenty of opportunities for candidates to sidestep these kind of issues, and I think the payoff is pretty ambiguous for them," Spiliotes said, adding, "It would only be an issue if you get a sense that these single-issue voters, that they can harness the opposition to the project in a way that makes things uncomfortable for them."
Hat Tip to D.A.S for the following:
This might be what it takes to shift Romney out of NH frontrunner status.
For those who don't know, "Northern Pass" is a high voltage electric transmission line, attempting to be built by Hydro Quebec, NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, across NH's north country.
It is bitterly opposed by many, including myself, as yet another "taking" by a private, foreign company, of a citizen's private property, and may in fact be in violation of the NH state constitution, an amendment that I helped, in my own small way, get passed in the wake of the atrocious Kelo v. New London SCOTUS decision.
www.livefreeorfry.com
http://burynorthernpass.blogspot.com/
Romney takes a Northern Pass
http://www.concordmonitor.com/artic...ss?SESSf434f4aaa160d36b84a549d160d04068=gnews
By Ben Leubsdorf / Monitor staff
November 2, 2011
When Mitt Romney has breakfast this morning at a $500-a-person fundraiser in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, he'll count Greg Butler among the event's 88 co-chairs.
Butler co-chaired a similar New York fundraiser in September. He donated money to Romney's 2008 presidential campaign and donated $2,500 to the former Massachusetts governor in May.
He's also senior vice president and general counsel for the Northern Pass project, a plan to import hydroelectric energy from Canada along 180 miles of new transmission lines in New Hampshire.
That could cause some trouble for Romney among Northern Pass opponents, who have been vocal in the North Country and elsewhere in the state about the project and the possibility of land being taken by eminent domain for it.
"You're talking about 180 miles of irate voters that will register their disconnect by casting negative votes
against candidates like Romney and positive votes for anybody that comes out in opposition to the Northern Pass," said Joe Drinon, a retired financial adviser and anti-Northern Pass activist from Chichester.
Drinon, a registered Republican, said Romney's tie to a Northern Pass official "is just too close for me. And I was going to vote for Romney. I think it's fair to say my wife was considering it seriously. And there's no way - no way - I'll vote for Romney. I don't care if they run the dogcatcher against him. I'll vote for the dogcatcher."
A copy of the fundraiser invitation was provided by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Butler's role was first reported by Monitor alum Shira Schoenberg for The Boston Globe.
A message seeking comment from Butler was left with a Northern Pass spokesman.
For the record, Romney hasn't come out in support of Northern Pass. But he hasn't exactly come out against it, either.
"Governor Romney hasn't seen the specifics of a final Northern Pass proposal, but he strongly supports local control and opposes any attempt to use eminent domain to take private property for the purposes of a private enterprise," spokesman Ryan Williams wrote in an email.
That's about what Romney said in a June 13 debate at St. Anselm College, where he said that "if land is going to be taken for purposes of a private enterprise, that's the wrong way to go."
That doesn't satisfy Drinon.
"That's not enough," he said. "That's political speak for, 'I don't want to take a stand.' "
And Romney wasn't shy this summer about jumping into another hot-button state issue, backing efforts to pass a right-to-work law over Gov. John Lynch's veto.
Mary Lee, a Northern Pass opponent from Northfield, said she thinks the project has made energy policy in general a more pressing issue for voters in the state. And she doesn't like that Romney has fundraising ties to a project official.
But, she said, she wasn't going to vote for him, anyway.
Independent political analyst Dean Spiliotes said, while there are single-issue voters at both the national and state levels, he thinks Northern Pass probably won't drive the primary election, which so far has been dominated by economic issues.
And unlike right-to-work, he said, there may not be much incentive for Romney to take a strong stand.
"I think there are plenty of opportunities for candidates to sidestep these kind of issues, and I think the payoff is pretty ambiguous for them," Spiliotes said, adding, "It would only be an issue if you get a sense that these single-issue voters, that they can harness the opposition to the project in a way that makes things uncomfortable for them."
Hat Tip to D.A.S for the following:
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