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| This week, we share some reflections from a Kent Street Volunteer: Before moving to New Hampshire, I felt like politics and policy were generally “handled” by well-meaning folks smarter than I. (I know, I know, I’ve since learned my lesson.) Growing up in blue states–Massachusetts, New York, Vermont–I had a sense that wonky specialists took the wheels of government and were more or less steering it in the right direction. Then I moved to New Hampshire. Here, not only did I discover that some pretty anti-freedom stuff was taking place in state policy despite the Live Free or Die motto, but I also discovered how much impact an individual like myself could have on policy and representation. In Massachusetts, my Democratic vote did little more than pad the margin in support of my team. In New Hampshire, my vote for a House member could literally flip a seat, shift the balance of power in Concord, and thereby change the outcome of a proposed book ban or voucher bill. Now we’re cooking with gas.* You know who else has this turbocharged voting power? Every single voter in New Hampshire— including Republicans and Libertarians and Independents. The Free State Project knew this 20 years ago when they targeted New Hampshire as the easiest in the nation to flip with an influx of like-minded people, and they have been laser-focused on exploiting the power of a handful of local votes ever since. And so they have done. Adherents to the Free State Agenda have taken control of the Republican party in Concord, and every Republican vote in New Hampshire supports their extremist policies. Similarly, my fiscally conservative blue-state expat neighbors who came to New Hampshire: while your Republican votes in Massachusetts or Vermont did little to compromise access to abortion or the quality of public education, here in New Hampshire it is a whole new ball game. Socially progressive or centrist Republicans who have long voted red in their home states hoping for improved fiscal oversight or lower tax rates now find that their red-team votes are supporting book bans, intrusive healthcare policies, and the rest of the Free State Agenda. And every well-meaning Republican vote amplifies their power. I tell people New Hampshire is an amazing place to engage in political work all the time, because your impact and electoral responsibility are so outsized here. Though many of us have voted along party lines for decades, based on our fundamental understanding of what “our” party stands for historically or philosophically, I urge my Republican friends–and my Democratic friends–to examine the policies being put forward by the parties in Concord and decide whose laws you want to live under. Because in New Hampshire, your single vote may tip the scales on defunding public education, healthcare access, and affordability. So while you are taking a moment to reflect on your political superhero status, I encourage you to strap on your cape and join Kent Street for our monthly meeting on May 14 (this Thursday!). We will take a very timely dive into voter rights and the upcoming November elections. We are honored to have panelists Olivia Zink from Open Democracy America and Lisa Kovak from New Hampshire Center for Voting Rights joining us to discuss changes in New Hampshire voting law, including registering, requesting an absentee ballot, and casting a ballot at the polls. We will tap the legal expertise of Kent Street Conveners and their friends to get a handle on the ever-shifting federal voting landscape. Most importantly, we will provide specific avenues for you to transform your election anxiety into sustainable, impactful action. Register here. And in case you are still wondering whether your engagement can really make a difference, I remind you that “Hungarian voters…turned out in the greatest numbers since the fall of communism in the 1990s to turn away from Orbán’s Fidesz party, with exit polls indicating a possible “super-majority” victory for Magyar’s Tisza movement” despite sixteen years of active voter suppression and electoral shenanigans under Orban’s government. Let the victory in Hungary be our guiding light and call to action here at home. In Solidarity, Susan C Kent Street Coalition *Disclaimer: I have an induction stove, not gas, and I absolutely love it. |
Kent Street Coalition 