In the New Hampshire Senate Primary, Bob Smith is the Clear Choice for Conservatives

In the New Hampshire Senate Primary, Bob Smith is the Clear Choice for Conservatives
by David T. Pyne, Esq., Columnist and Legal Analyst

September 10, 2002

Columnist David Pyne The New Hampshire Senate Primary race this Tuesday is a classic contest between a staunch traditional Reaganite conservative and a fairly passionless and uncharismatic moderate. On one side, there is incumbent Republican Senator Bob Smith a legendary conservative icon who has done more to champion the conservative cause in the US Senate than any other man during his past twelve years in office with the possible exception of Senator Jesse Helms. On the other hand, there is Rep. John Sununu, an unproven libertarian-minded Republican challenging Smith from the left. In this challenge, Sununu is running as the candidate of the moderate wing of the New Hampshire State Party hoping to defeat Smith, who has long been the favorite candidate of the conservative wing of the state (and national) Republican party. Unlike Smith, who was rated among the top three conservatives in the US Senate during the current congressional session by the New American magazine's Conservative Index, Sununu was ranked well below the House GOP average with a positively anemic Conservative Index of only 40%.

Sununu has joined liberal media pundits in arguing that Smith is somehow unelectable despite the fact that Smith has not lost a single election in eighteen years of running for office and has a remarkable history of come-from-behind victories even when the liberals prematurely reported his "defeat" in the 1996 election. The truth is that Bob Smith is far and away the best-funded and best-positioned Republican candidate to face Democratic US Senate nominee, Jeanne Shaheen. Thanks to Smith's passionate and selfless advancement of conservative causes, his voting base is more committed than that of the much more moderate Sununu. Polls show Smith running even with Shaheen in the midst of a bitterly contested primary without which he would likely be several points ahead of her in the polls.

Despite efforts by Sununu supporters to portray their candidate as a conservative, clear and marked policy differences on issues of importance to conservatives have emerged between the two Senate contenders during the last two primary debates that challenge the validity of that assertion. In regards to US foreign policy, Sununu is "soft" on America's enemies, even Iraq. Sununu opposes Bush's plan to invade Iraq and has stated that he would only support such an attack if the US were to obtain the kind of broad-based coalition support that the US had during the Gulf War. He voted in support of the creation of an independent Palestinian state that would likely join the ranks of Iraq and Iran as a rogue terrorist state and pose a potentially mortal threat to Israel, something that not even Bill Clinton would support. Sununu also voted in support of a bill, which would have rewarded two million illegal immigrants and terrorist infiltrators with amnesty. He also voted to reward suspected terrorists with classified/secret intelligence, which put the lives of US intelligence agents at risk. Sununu's votes on the terrorism issue can be described as naive at best. Last December, Sununu took a $1000 contribution from the leader of a militant Islamic organization based in the US, named Ziad Asali, who stated shortly after the 9-11 terrorist attacks that Osama bin Laden may be a champion to some Muslims because he had seized on "legitimate grievances deeply felt in the Arab and Islamic world." Sununu's radical voting record on Israel issues and Smith's championing of Israel's right to defend itself against Palestinian terrorist attacks have resulted in all pro-Israel public interest groups joining together in efforts to re-elect Bob Smith.

Unlike Smith who has never ceased to champion the pro-life cause, Sununu believes abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest. Similarly, Sununu's support for Second Amendment rights is constrained by his support to strengthen enforcement of all existing gun control laws including the unconstitutional ones imposed by Bill Clinton. Sununu also supported Democrat proposals for mandatory safety locks on guns and mandatory gun registration at gun shows. For these and other reasons, Gun Owners of America, which Rep. Ron Paul proclaimed the only 100% pro-Second Amendment organization in the country, awarded Sununu a "B-" while giving Smith an "A" for his championing of gun rights. Sununu also supports maintaining funding for the National Endowment of the Arts, best known for its morally repugnant and often blasphemous displays, at current levels. In addition, he voted for a version of the Clinton-backed "Patients' Bill of Rights" bill which would greatly increase the cost of health insurance in this country, forcing millions more Americans to drop their coverage. Sununu has voted to reward Beijing for its worsening human rights record with permanent Most favored Nation trade status, WTO membership and $110 billion a year in US taxpayer subsidized trade, aid and state-of-the-art US dual-use military and supercomputer technology. These measures have had the undesirable effect of building up the Communist Chinese military and Beijing's internal repression apparatus and thus prolonging and preserving Communist control of the mainland. Conversely, Bob Smith has championed the cause of freedom in China by opposing US taxpayer subsidized MFN trade status for Communist China.

Bob Smith has spent six years in the House of Representative and twelve years in the Senate fighting for the citizens in New Hampshire and equally important fighting for America. Smith has selflessly championed conservative causes such as the right to life, gun rights, missile defense, the fight against unilateral nuclear disarmament treaties and others at times almost alone with Jesse Helms and one or two others. Smith was the only Senator who had the courage to take a stand and champion the right of Elian Gonzales to live in a free country. Smith, a Vietnam veteran himself, has also demanded a full accounting of our POW-MIAs from Vietnam while most other Republicans lacked the courage to address this issue which is so important to America's veterans.

Thanks to Smith's passionate defense of conservatism and his strong support for the Bush agenda in the Senate, he has been endorsed by President Bush and virtually every major conservative leader and conservative organization in the country including Paul Weyrich, David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union which has rated Smith as a 100% conservative for the past two consecutive years, Phyllis Schlafly and the National Rifle Association just to name a few. Due to Smith's conservative record and his championing of the Bush agenda, the liberal Democrats have declared Bob Smith Enemy Number One and are doing everything they can to defeat him. If Smith is defeated, the Democrats will likely succeed in keeping their slender majority in the US Senate and will thus be in a position to continue to obstruct the President's legislative agenda in Congress.

Republicans need to not merely elect a Republican majority to the US Senate, but a conservative majority. The most recent polls show the New Hampshire Senate primary contenders tied neck and neck with the race to close to call. Senator Bob Smith is one of a dying breed of committed conservatives in the Senate whose ranks have been and are being seriously depleted by the defeat of Lauch Faircloth, John Ashcroft and the retirement of Jesse Helms. If the liberals succeed in defeating him, the conservative cause will lose a passionate defender and the Bush agenda will continue to be stymied by a Democat majority in the Senate. For these reasons and others, I hereby urge all New Hampshire Republicans to vote to re-elect Reaganite conservative Bob Smith for Senate on September 10th and reward him for his efforts to champion the conservative cause, US national security and America. ***

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a national security expert who works as an International Programs Manager in the Department of the Army responsible for the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Middle East among others. He is also a licensed attorney and former Army Reserve Officer. In addition, he holds an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. Mr. Pyne currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Virginia Republican Assembly. He is also a member of the Center for Emerging National Security Affairs based in Washington, D.C. Mr. Pyne serves as a columnist for American-Partisan.com , OpinioNet.net and America's Voices. He is also a regular contributor for Patriotist.com. In addition, his articles have appeared on Etherzone.com, Sierratimes.com, OriginalDissent.com and AmericanReformation.org where he serves as a national security policy analyst. He has been cited in the New American Magazine and was recently interviewed on Howard Phillips' Conservative Roundtable TV program.

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