Hassan at Rockingham Park

   Democrat gubernatorial candidate Maggie Hassan’s appearance at Tuesday night’s Speaker’s Forum at displayed the former Senate president’s best attributes and strengths, as she staked her claim as the counterpoint to what New Hampshire can look forward to if GOP candidates Ovide Lamontagne or Kevin Smith were to win in November.

   Ms. Hassan’s pro family/middle class/affordable healthcare platform was in evidence from the very start of her 20-minute speech, as she movingly discussed the physical disability of her eldest son Ben and the challenges he faces every day overcoming cerebral palsy. She brought a warm, humanizing approach to the 50-plus attendees as opposed to the hard-edged political sloganeering ("I want to be Scott Walker on steroids!") we’re all used to from Lamontagne.

   With Gov. John Lynch and his veto pen retiring in January after four terms, Maggie spoke about some of the most egregious changes that would occur within months of a GOP takeover of the governor’s chair, particularly if Republicans succeed in keeping their majorities in the House and Senate. These would include the repeal of the Marriage Equality Act, the reduction of basic health care for women, including birth control (only in our Tea Party-dominated 2012 could something as basic as birth control even exist as a political talking point), the banning of abortion even in the case of rape or incest, along with the federal takeover of Medicare, which would add thousands of dollars onto the annual healthcare costs of our seniors. Lamontagne and Smith also support the continued underfunding of our colleges and secondary schools and the undermining of state unions, as both Republican governor candidates will sign the Right To Work Act, which is just another conservative-coined misnomer to fool the working public.

   Ovide Lamontagne’s viral "Scott Walker" quote from a couple months ago, along with a perusal of his above policy points, should be all any voter has to know about the middle class dismantling that would ensue if he or his near-clone Smith is elected.

   Maggie’s governing principles came out both in her speech and in the 45-minute question-and-answer session that followed. Their implementation will effectively begin rectifying the Tea Party-caused job loss and 19^th-century thinking and social changes that have taken place here since January 2011 :

   - Focus on the Granite State economy and job growth, which will include funding the Nashua-to-Manchester rail line, the widening of Route 93, along with other infrastructure ameliorations. This will make our state an attractive one again for businesses to move into, spurring job creation here as opposed to neighboring Massachusetts being the recipient of our House missteps.

   - Promote expanded gambling, including a single casino bill, adding thousands of jobs to the state as well as more tourism revenues from adjacent hotels, restaurants, etc. The bidding process would be transparent and the completed project would be subject to strong state regulation.

   - Enact a commission to oversee managed health care, vitally important with the upcoming increase of elderly baby boomers needing assisted facilities and nursing homes. She would also appropriate a large-scale commission to study alternate revenue streams, an absolute necessity due to the low tax burden we enjoy compared to the rest of the United States.

   - Bring our school budgets, including kindergarten, back to the pre-January 2011 levels.

   - Stated that she would veto any sales or income tax proposal that came to her desk as a matter of course, but especially in light of the financial struggles so many families are enduring already.

   - Embraces Obamacare, fully cognizant of the added federal dollars that New Hampshire has received and will continue to realize, as opposed to the two GOP candidates who are four-square against the legislation. She will also demand transparency in price-setting from healthcare providers to negotiate the lowest possible costs for our citizens. Maggie also pointed out the wide disparity between the hospital/clinic auspices that we in southern-New Hampshire enjoy as opposed to the dearth of same in our North Country, an area particularly savaged by the Tea Party cuts of the past two years.

   - Getting the sad shell that is Rockingham Park going again.

   Maggie Hassan’s entire political career from 1999 to the present has included a much-needed skill in working with reasonable members of both sides of the aisle, along with a strong passion for our state’s middle class and disadvantaged. As both a member and head of the Senate as well as her other state positions on the Commerce and Public and Municipal Affairs committees, she has always been a champion of finding the common ground between the Republican and Democrat parties. And as governor she will continue to do so.