Last night Son #1 and I attended the "Lesser-Known Presidential Candidates Forum" at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, NH. Click below if you just want to see all the photos from the event:
The requirement was participants needed to be registered and on the NH primary ballot and had not participated in any other candidate forums. In order to get on the NH ballot you need to be a a US citizen, at least 35 by time you take office, filled out the appropriate form and pay your $1000 to the state of NH.
The first hour was for the 10 Republican candidates:
* Bear Betzler
* Timothy Brewer
* Hugh Cort
* Randy Crow
* John Davis
* Christopher Hill
* Jeff Lawman
* Benjamin Linn
* Michael Meehan
* Joe Story
The second hour were for the 8 Democratic candidates, although one was a no-show:
* Ed Cowan
* Dr. Bob Greene
* John D. Haywood
* Robert B. Jordan -- no show
* Edward O'Donnell, Jr
* Vermin Supreme
* Randall Terry)
* John Wolfe, Jr
All the photos I took of the event are released under a Creative Commons Attribution license -- so you are welcome to use them as long as you give me a photo credit. (I won't turn down a check if a media organization would like to send an honoria my way)
Here are my notes/scribbling/impressions from last night's "Lesser-Known Presidential Candidates Forum" at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, NH on 19-Dec-2011. I'm just an interested NH voter, not a journalist so don't be surprised of my views and bias come through...
The format was 2 minutes for each candidate to make their case followed by questions from the panel --Beth LaMontagne Hall (Union Leader), Ambassador Terry Shumaker and NH State Representative Jim Splaine; Bob(?) Griffin was the moderator.
The first hour was for the 10 Republican candidates:
- Bear Betzler -- missed intro; cool first name; don't have much notes
on him. - Timothy Brewer -- missed intro; first day in office? Talk to Jesus
and the Afterlife; God very important to him and should be to you
too; - Hugh Cort -- "Google Iran Holocaust", nuclear attack on the US very
soon by Iran (March 2012); Mexico-Venezuela-Iran connection; - Randy Crow -- References 9/11 alot; worked in retail gas sector,
driven out by major oil companies which keep prices up and drive
foreign policy; get tough with big oil; - John Davis -- God spoke to him to have him run, then he told his
wife; Home builder; pro-life; constitutionalist; asked about Global
Climate change and said hard to know if really happening and need to
study it more. - Christopher Hill -- I saw him at some Tea Party events this year;
raised in Bedford, NH now lives in KY; airline pilot; wants no
income tax up to $250k afterwards increased taxes; - Jeff Lawman -- From NH, an Engineer who will bring that view to the
whitehouse, fiscal conservative, social liberal, concerned about
environment - Benjamin Linn -- youngest candidate born in 1973 in CA. anti-war,
pro-life; get out of Afghanistan ASAP - Michael Meehan -- from St. Louis(?), real estate; Asked about
gay/civil marriage position which he does not support but considers
it a minor issue compared to problems that need to be addressed - Joe Story -- Godly, 10 commandments, christian, concerned about 10
million illegal aliens that may be spying for our enemies; for
Supreme Court, only appoint strict constitutionalists that don't
follow precedence but only from what is in the US Constitution;
Somewhat libertarian wants to put most government owned operations
in a 'benefit trust', ie: Ford, royalties from land use, etc
The second hour were for the 7 Democratic candidates, although one was
a no-show, so the seven where:
- Ed Cowan -- from VT, want US to get organized and solve list of
problems ie: nukes, ozone, population growth, energy, disparity of
rich/poor (people and countries) and environment - Dr. Bob Greene -- PhD in Physics (w00t!); from CA; Thorium holds
great promise for energy production; Thorium found in lots of 'waste
products' like coal ash(?), etc. golf ball sized amount can generate
enough for a person/year(?) - John D. Haywood -- from NC; wants British National Health Care-style
system which is much loved, economical in comparison; get rid of
Bush tax cuts; return to 1965 Johnson/Kennedy level income tax
system; - Edward O'Donnell, Jr -- all about love, kindness and friendliness;
no jacket, turtleneck with pumpkin & kitten (see photos); loud
speaker; no guns (including hunting); wants non-violent foreign
policy - Vermin Supreme - ran in 2008 and announced same day as Hillary
Clinton (see ); mandatory toothbrushing; gingivitis greatest threat;
friendly fascist; a pony for everyone in the US; future is a pony
based economy; Genius Idea: to solve dependency on foreign oil
develop Zombie Turbines. Tie zombies to a large turbine and dangle
human brains in front of them. They will endlessly walk around in a
circle pulling the turbine and generate electricity; Donated a
kidney to his mother this year. His mother was in the audience and I
verified he really did donate a kidney. What a nice boy. - Randall Terry -- From West Virginia; only candidate to refer to the
President as "Barack Hussein Obama", pro-life, loves god, 52 million
children killed; founded the repellent 'Operation Rescue'; anti-gay;
now running as a Democrat. Glitterbombed by Vermin Supreme.
A little bit of #Occupy 'mike check' then told it was okay to come
out of the closet and people will still love him (could have been a
Vermin Supreme operative saying that, unclear who); See photos of
presumed notes "Progressive Income Tax is based on jealousy,
greed. Marxist"; we are a socialist country now;
- John Wolfe, Jr -- From TN; true progressive to challenge Obama to
address issues on the left.
Bear Betzler
Timothy Brewer
Hugh Cort
Randy Crow
John Davis
Christopher Hill
Jeff Lawman
Benjamin Linn
Michael Meehan
Joe Story
Ed Cowan
Bob Greene
John D. Haywood
Edward O'Donnell, Jr
Vermin Supreme
Randall Terry
John Wolfe, Jr
Vermin Supreme glitterbombs Randall Terry
