Over the past several years, in the months preceding election day, a common sight around town were the ubiquitous yard signs promoting one of Exeter’s most prominent public servants.
These were not the subdued light blue signs of Rep. Donna Schlachman, nor the startling, almost precautionary, yellow of the newcomer Suprock. No, these were the red, white and true blue placards of Lee Quandt .
On Election Day, this stalwart of sensible Republican values was swept out of office by a Democratic wave, propelled in part by an inexplicable surge of same day voter registrations, totaling 993.
There was, however, another factor that led to Mr Quandt’s defeat: he was unfairly lumped in with principled Republicans known as Tea Partiers and Free Staters.
Imagine the danger posed by the former group with their insistence that government be in some way limited, the will of the majority be damned?
And the Free Staters descended upon our state, wishing for “freedom” , to be left alone, to voluntarily associate with whom they please, and to keep the fruit of their labor.
These outrageous ideas are as antiquated as the right to arm oneself in defense of family and property.
And most dangerously, many of this “liberty crowd” wish to educate their own children!
What’s next? Tri-cornered hats? I suppose such homeschooling is preferable to having these kids rub shoulders with our own, abrading their goodthink conformity with notions of “Natural Rights” and the “Non Aggression Axiom”.
On the campaign trail, and in his insightful blogs, Lee Quant, at his own peril, warned of the danger.
He unabashedly called out his rivals -members of his own party-as “domestic terrorists” and mentally ill. Do you not agree that the desire for freedom is a sickness antithetical to modern society?
In one blog, Quandt redefines “domestic terrorist”, setting a much lower threshold to that classification than even the Patriot Act.
In another, he recounts being called a RHINO by his foes. I’m unsure what he means, but assume that it is some sort of epithet, a more insulting version of the acronym for “Republican In Name Only”, perhaps “Republican Histeric In Name Only”, or more likely, “Republican Hero In Name Only”. In any case, Mr Quandt should share his expertise with the world by editing the Wikipedia entries regarding these two topics.
Much like the national Democrat’s tendency to shout down critics of President Obama as racists, the NH Democratic elites demonized any of their opposition as “Tea Partiers” or “Free Staters”.
During the last biennium, only 12 of the 400 NH House Reps, were loosely affiliated with the Free State Project.
How these few people supposedly infected the majority of House Republicans is unknown.
However, there is only one way to stop the existential threat posed by the spread of liberty, and that is by sending sage leaders like Lee Quandt back to Concord.
Sadly, Lee has indicated that he will not run again.
This is unfortunate because, like many veteran politicians, Lee is as pragmatic as a rooftop weathervane, and he will let neither conscience nor principles deter him.
Josh Picador
Exeter
