Don't forget U.S. Senate race

Editor, The Citizen: As we get wrapped up in the presidential primaries, we tend to forget that there are other extremely important races.

Next November, Jean Shaheen will try to unseat John Sununu for the U.S. Senate again. It's worth remembering that five years ago, on Nov. 5, 2002, highly placed Republican officials engaging in felonious action in phone jamming New Hampshire Democrat's phones and prevented them from getting to the polls to vote for Shaheen and against Sununu. This is the same John Sununu who has done the bidding of George Bush throughout the last six years.

These criminals worked for Jack Abramoff and Karl Rove. Sununu has never explained his involvement in this plot. I am fed up with the lies and greed of the Republicans and their disastrous agenda. I urge everyone to vote for the Democratic ticket in 2008 and send a message that we will not tolerate corrupt government any longer.

Terry Downs

Rumney



@Brief head:Why I'm supporting

Barack Obama

Editor, The Citizen: I support Barack Obama because he has the proven judgment, experience and ability to bring people together to make fundamental change in our politics and to set new priorities—which we need in order to make progress on the key issues we all have in common. He has the experience to give us all the courage to put an end to the divisiveness that has kept us from remembering who we are as Americans — first and foremost we are people who care about each other, who are kind and compassionate and reasonable, who know the rule of law applies to each of us. We need to focus on what we have in common, what unites us, and leave behind the things that divide us.

He turned his back on lucrative job offers out of law school and worked in the community, leading people of diverse interests and backgrounds to recognize their similarities and not focus on their differences. As a state senator in Illinois, he led people from different parts of the political spectrum to have the courage and confidence that they could work together to solve problems, and they did. As a United States senator he has continued that forward looking leadership. As president, he will truly be a uniter and not a divider.

Barack Obama knows the Constitution — he has been a professor of constitutional law and a civil rights lawyer. He will never treat the Constitution as an inconvenience to be gotten around.

He does not wrap himself up in nostalgia for the past — he is the future. In applying common sense to issues facing us, he is optimistic, fresh and dynamic — he represents a new outlook for America. He is anything but a dogmatist or an ideologue. Washington politics should no longer be only about tactics and maneuvers. A healthy dose of idealism has to be combined with pragmatism to inspire our trust and confidence in politics again. We have to trust politics in order for our democratic republic to persevere.

The Democratic candidates are a lot alike in important ways — experience (just look at the experience of past presidents), they want to end the war in Iraq, to fight poverty, to save the environment, and to achieve energy independence and universal health care. But the most transformational and inspiring president will be Barack Obama. He will listen to other people's views, he will lead us to have the confidence that we can make changes to politics in ways that emphasize what we have in common as Americans.

It is time to get organized, get involved, and to commit to supporting Barack Obama.

To be heard on concerns of yours call the campaign (Concord number is 224-8004, Manchester number is 668-2008). To learn about Barack Obama's views on specific issues, please go to www.barackobama.com or call those numbers.

Claudia Damon

Concord



@Brief head:Experience that

will do us good

Editor, The Citizen: After carefully looking at all the pluses and minuses of the Democratic candidates I have decided to support Hillary Clinton for president. Any one of these fine candidates would probably be a good president. I think Hillary has the potential to be an outstanding one.

Hillary is a heavyweight fighter in a world where we need such a president. Her long experience in Washington is a strong plus, not a minus. Dealing with domestic and world problems requires someone who knows their way around. We need someone who can hit the ground running, without a dangerous learning curve.

I met, and talked with Hillary many years ago. At that time she was already talking about the health-care shortage for families of moderate and low incomes. She has a gut feeling about the need to get this country in line with the rest of the developed countries in making sure that no person goes without health care because they cannot afford it.

While I would dearly love to see our troops come home from Iraq tomorrow, I have to recognize that this may not be possible. I think Hillary sees the need to disengage as quickly as possible consistent with our own security needs. This means getting out of the middle of a civil war, while protecting our interests in the Middle East.

Hillary is electable. When running for a second term as Senator in NY State.

she demonstrated that she could get the votes of Republicans and Independents.



Kent Warner

Center Harbor