One goal! VOTE DEM!

Sue Prentiss, in an October 7 Valley News forum letter, says what we need to say beautifully, so we’re letting her take the lead today.

We also encourage you to take a look at the Shaheen/Messner “debate” if you are at all confused about who you will be voting for! hmm and to add to your watching pleasure, we’ve added a link to Veto Mania!, last week’s UVDems monthly program. Thank you to our representatives for participating. We certainly learned a lot.

Speaking of reasons to vote for Jeanne Shaheen and Dems up and down the ticket, the UVDems will address these issues at our October 26th Zoom program. Fortunately for us, we have Maggie Hassan to weigh in on working with Jeanne and Annie Kuster. Then Dan Feltes and Mike Cryans will be explaining how the governor’s office works with the executive council.

If you are sick and tired of this election, you are not alone AND it’s almost over. Hang in there. Join lit drops in Lebanon and Hanover; make calls; display a sign; make a donation. We are almost there and let’s just hope the election doesn’t drag on past November 3.

Take it away, Sue!

Here’s what’s at stake for women in this election 

The unfortunate passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was heartbreaking for so many women in New Hampshire and across the country — not only because we lost a steadfast champion for women’s rights, equality and justice, but because her passing puts the future of women’s health care at risk. For Granite Staters, this issue hits especially close to home. Just like President Donald Trump, Gov. Chris Sununu opposes abortion rights and has spent his career attempting to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.

The Trump administration has attempted to defund Planned Parenthood, whose health clinics provide birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. True to form, when Sununu was on the Executive Council, he did exactly the same thing. When Planned Parenthood’s contract came up for debate, Sununu cast the deciding vote to defund these health care centers, which thousands of Granite State women rely on.

Second, just as Trump wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, Sununu is working to make access to abortion almost impossible — even when medically necessary. He recently vetoed legislation requiring health insurance companies to cover women’s reproductive health care, in effect restricting abortion access for many women and making it clear that he believes he should be the one making medical decisions for Granite State women.

Finally, just like Trump’s attempts to put a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court who opposes abortion rights, Sununu is attempting to do the same thing with New Hampshire’s Supreme Court. Last year, Sununu tried to appoint someone who had never been a judge to the state’s highest court. Thankfully the Executive Council rebuked this dangerous anti-woman move. But if reelected, Sununu has already vowed to try to reshape the court with an abortion-rights opponent. With Roe v. Wade potentially at risk nationally, it’s more important than ever that New Hampshire’s court upholds personal freedom and privacy — and Sununu can’t be trusted to do that.

SUE PRENTISS

Lebanon

The writer is the Democratic candidate for state Senate District 5.

Click here to see details of the items below:

  • Top 3 voter mistakes on absentee ballots in NH
  • Jeanne Shaheen Debates Corky Messner
  • Sununu’s ‘Veto Mania’ on YOUTUBE
  • Where Sununu stands on the ACA
  • October 15, From the Outskirts to Downtown: Taxes, Land Use & Value in 15 New Hampshire Communities (Hanover and Lebanon among the communities)
  • Monday, October 26, Report from the Front Lines

ONGOING

  • OrganizeNH Updates
  • Signs
  • Clerk office hours for dropping off your absentee ballot!
  • Black Lives Matter Vigils

Calling all Activists!

Many of us are veteran volunteers who are used to door knocking and engaging our fellow citizens in civil confabs right before election day. It’s called GOTV or getoutthevote. COVID has knocked instead and made these engagements almost extinct. Some of us will be asked to place door hangers on a specific person’s door. Most of us will not be pressed into service. That said, there are plenty of things we can and must do before November 3.

We can write postcards (see the Shaheen opportunity below); we can make phone calls from the comfort of our home (contact Eleanor Patten at epatten@organizenh.org); we can make sure the people in our vicinity who are turning 18 get escorted (not in cuffs) to the local town clerk and get registered to vote; speaking of registering, please look around for non-voters who you can convince to get registered; you can talk to lazy voters who don’t think voting matters. Plus you can volunteer to help us install 4×8 signs the next few weekends (call Barbara at 448-1119 or email babswork@comcast.net). LOTS to do!

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 29 at 9 p.m., the first presidential debate between the current WH occupant and the former vice president, Joe Biden, will take place. The format is a moving target. Whether there is an audience or not seems to be a bit blurry but it is on. Normally, there would be a gathering at Gusanoz but chances are we’ll be watching at home. This will require some kind of libation and maybe a few friends at the proper social distance.

Our Monday night program, the UVDems’ long-awaited VETO NIGHT, has moved to Monday, October 5! Our reps are really going to the mats for this one. 4,276. Let us repeat: 4,276. 4,276 represents the number of voters in New Hampshire who, although they grabbed a Democratic primary ballot, wrote in Sununu as their preferred gubernatorial candidate. Obviously, these well-meaning voters are not aware of the egregious and damaging vetoes that have taken place in the last few years. Our hardworking representatives have put together a program that will outline the bills, many of which were bi-partisan, that this self-proclaimed “Trump’s Trump” governor has cast. We WANT you to be angry about this and we NEED you to vote for Dan Feltes so the citizen-friendly agenda of the Democrats can move forward.

So, here we are, five and a bit weeks to go. Pick up your signs. Be proud to display your standards. And good luck to the most important people in this–US.

Click here for details of items below!

  • Write postcards for Jeanne Shaheen
  • September 29, First Presidential Debate
  • September 30, The NH School Funding Fairness Project
  • October 5, UVD Program: Sununu’s ‘Veto Mania’ NEW DATE!

ONGOING

  • Signs for the Upper Valley
  • NEW List of Volunteer Opportunities 
  • Registration and absentee ballots for November 3!
  • Black Lives Matter Vigils

Engage, Educate, Empower, Elect!