By Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth
In the two years that have passed since the last state and federal election in 2020, New Hampshire has gone from “In This Together” at the height of the COVID pandemic to one of most toxic and divisive periods in our history.
Social pillars that both parties once largely agreed on—like public health, public education, and the need for free and fair elections—have become battlegrounds.
Sources for creditable news and information once trusted by all have been relentlessly attacked and marginalized to a point where half our country’s population either ignores them or openly attacks their work. Meanwhile, as consumers of news, the choice far too many of us now make isn’t between which sources are most creditable and reliable—but instead between which ones most closely match our own world view. As a result, too many of us seem to have lost the distinction between “getting the facts” and getting “my version of the facts”.
Polarizing social media figures like Alex Jones have gathered millions of followers (and dollars) by being perfectly willing to to launch poisonous unfounded conspiracy theories—such as accusing the parents of the Sandy Hook School shooting victims of being “paid crisis actors”. Far from just a national problem, Jones’s New Hampshire imitators, such as GOP state representative candidate Jeremy Herrell, delight their YouTube followers with a mix of equally unhinged conspiracy theories with additional dollops of white supremacy.
While the November 8 election won’t help us fix social media, it does give us an opportunity to shift direction from constant fear-mongering and complaining to actually beginning to fix what’s broken.
Since the rise of Donald Trump, two twin superpowers have emerged in far too many Republican Party leaders: blame-shifting and distorting the facts.
Despite the deaths of five police officers and calls to “Hang Mike Pence!”, the January 6, 2020 Capitol Riot gets spun (with the exception of Liz Cheney) as just a “tourist visit” and “legitimate political discourse”.
On the other hand, President Biden’s success in dramatically reducing the number of children in poverty while growing both jobs and economy despite the lingering effects of COVID, energy price shocks from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, corporate price gouging, and far worse inflation in other countries—gets cast by critics as “a disaster.” Their proposed “fixes”? More tax cuts for the rich, decimating alternative energy creation, and spending cuts targeting “government waste” that GOP candidates for national office, like Don Bolduc and Karoline Leavitt, quite openly tell their supporters include Medicare, Social Security, and other retirement, health care, and elder care programs that countless Americans depend on.
Here in New Hampshire, Republicans like Gov. Sununu crow about “blocking an income tax” when the truth is that no bill imposing an income tax was ever proposed. (Note: In the 4 years I’ve served in the New Hampshire, I’ve missed a grand total of one vote. So I’m pretty sure I would have noticed it—and voted against it.) Meanwhile, after signing the state’s first abortion ban along with an invasive ultrasound requirement, our governor patted himself on the back in a national podcast interview as “having done more on the pro-life issue than anyone”. Yet he continues to position himself at home as “pro-choice” despite the fact that his supposedly pro-choice beliefs weren’t strong enough to keep him from endorsing three GOP candidates for federal office who have all promised to end abortion.
Bottom line: These aren’t easy times. The impact of higher food and energy prices is very real. But when you go to the polls, away from the distortions of TV ads and the partisan posts on social media, please take a moment to recognize and remember what you really want in the people you elect to represent you: Quiet pragmatic problem-solvers willing to dig into solving our inflation, housing, education, criminal justice, health care, and immigration issues. Or candidates willing to say anything to get your vote—and equally willing to live in a world where women no longer control their own bodies and where Medicare and other key parts of the social safety net that protects you, your family, and your neighbors are chipped away until they longer exist.
It’s your choice.
Rep. David Meuse, Portsmouth
