Smith vs. Sununu

JUST wait: If Rep. John E. Sununu defeats two-term conservative incumbent Bob Smith in New Hampshire’s Republican senatorial primary on September 10, the national media will prematurely cheer: “New England’s rebel state is finally becoming more like its liberal neighbors.”

But a Sununu victory would be no triumph for liberalism in New Hampshire, the only East Coast state north of Virginia that Al Gore lost in 2000. Just because Smith has one of the most right-wing voting records in the U.S. Senate doesn’t mean Sununu is to his left. In fact, some of the people most eager to force Smith into retirement are conservatives who want the Granite State to retain its rock-ribbed Republican representation.

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Bernadette Malone

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JUST wait: If Rep. John E. Sununu defeats two-term conservative incumbent Bob Smith in New Hampshire’s Republican senatorial primary on September 10, the national media will prematurely cheer: “New England’s rebel state is finally becoming more like its liberal neighbors.”

But a Sununu victory would be no triumph for liberalism in New Hampshire, the only East Coast state north of Virginia that Al Gore lost in 2000. Just because Smith has one of the most right-wing voting records in the U.S. Senate doesn’t mean Sununu is to his left. In fact, some of the people most eager to force Smith into retirement are conservatives who want the Granite State to retain its rock-ribbed Republican representation.