Biden supporter and former N.H. Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan.
“Suck it up, Buttercup.” — Former NHDP chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, to New Hampshire Democrats complaining Joe Biden shouldn’t be their nominee after watching his disastrous debate performance.
Bad news, “Buttercup.” If you’re a New Hampshire Democrat, the sucking has just begun.
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Think about it: You woke up Sunday morning with Joe Biden as your presumptive nominee, your ears still ringing with assurances from U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan and state Sen. Donna Soucy that “Dark Brandon” was rock solid for another four years.
But by the time you went to bed Sunday night, Biden was out, Vice President Kamala Harris was in, and your convention delegates were already pledged to the Veep in the upcoming “open primary.”
Whether you liked it or not. Not that New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley or Democrat lackey Kathy Sullivan care what you like.
In a WMUR news story time stamped 9:16 pm, Buckley assured Democratic primary voters that the awarding of convention delegates “is going to be a process. And [Harris] will earn the votes of the delegates.”
Two hours later, another WMUR story: “New Hampshire Democratic Pledged Delegates Unanimously Endorse VP Harris.”
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Wow. That’s some “process.”
The political realities are such that Harris is almost certain to be the Democratic nominee, for good or ill. But how did it come to this? Granite State Democratic primary voters being declared supporters of Kamala Harris without being asked?
New Hampshire Democrats are now on the hook for the same Kamala Harris who blew them off in the 2020 First in the Nation primary. She thought so little of the Granite State, she didn’t even bother to show up at the Secretary of State’s office to file her paperwork.
During her rare visits to the Granite State that year, Harris repeatedly suggested that race was a factor in her failure to gain traction. She even found a racial “inference” in local reporters asking how often she would be campaigning in New Hampshire (answer: not very.)
By the way, when Harris completely bailed on New Hampshire in October 2019 to plant her flag in Iowa, she was at three percent in Hawkeye State polls. After a month of non-stop barnstorming through corn country, she had soared to 3.3 percent. What a political talent!
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But hey — suck it up, Buttercup. Just like you did for Biden during the First in the Nation primary fiasco.
Once again, what was the average New Hampshire Democrat thinking as they went to the polls to write in the name of a politician who said their primary was too racially suspect for him to participate in?
At the time, Democrats were told they had to do it to help Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump. What you Democrats didn’t know — but Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Chris Pappas, Buckley and the gang did –was that Biden was too old and infirm to be part of a traditional New Hampshire-style, retail politics primary. With a guaranteed win waiting in South Carolina, Biden just had to avoid being embarrassed. The calendar made it all but impossible for a viable candidate to enter with a serious shot at winning.
New Hampshire Democrats did the work of organizing a write-in campaign, while Biden got to hang out at his Delaware beach house. Nobody had to watch him struggle with the stairs at the Exeter Town Hall.
The “Hiden’ Biden” strategy worked — until it didn’t. After the debate debacle, Biden couldn’t hide it anymore. And what did Democratic leaders say?
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“Suck it up, buttercup!” Having been deceived about the depths of Biden’s health issues, it was your duty to stick with him — cringe-inducing press conferences be damned.
Only when it became apparent Biden was going to lose in November did Pelosi and Co. grab their political crowbars and pry him out of the race.
Now the same geniuses who got Democrats to this point have found the way forward. It’s Kamala or bust!
What sort of candidate will Harris be? Who knows? She didn’t have to campaign to get this nomination. It’s being handed to her right now.
Some smart political observers say she’s actually improved over the past three years, that Republicans expecting her to run as “Coconut Tree Word Salad” are in for a rude awakening.
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Others in D.C. are recycling a joke they used to use about another less-than-impressive vice president. “Dan Quayle is smarter than you think — but not by much.”
Whatever sort of candidate she turns out to be, New Hampshire Democrats have their marching orders.
Uncertainty surrounds federal child care subsidies for New Hampshire following a Trump administration announcement that has frozen funding nationwide. On Dec. 30, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill announced on X that the Administration of Children and Families will now “require a justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before it […]
A prelicensed therapist who had been practicing in Bow, N.H., was arrested Monday based on an allegation that he sexually assaulted a patient during an in-office visit, police said.
Daniel Thibeault, who faces two counts of felonious sexual assault and one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault, is being held at the Merrimack County jail pending his arraignment, according to a statement from the Bow Police Department.
Daniel Thibeault, a New Hampshire therapist arrested for alleged sexual assault of a patient.Courtesy of Bow Police Department
Thibeault had been a candidate for licensure who was subject to a supervisory agreement since May 2024, according to state records. His arrest comes after the presiding officer of the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice suspended his privileges to practice in the state in late December, citing the alleged assault.
Bow police had notified the state’s Office of Professional Licensure and Certification in early December that Thibeault was accused of sexually assaulting the patient despite her “audible demands to stop,” according to an order signed by an administrative law judge.
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The incident was reported to Bow police in August, prompting an investigation by Detective Sergeant Tyler Coady that led to a warrant being issued for Thibeault‘s arrest, police said.
Efforts to reach Thibeault for comment were unsuccessful Monday. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
Police said the investigation is considered active and ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Coady at 603-223-3956 or tcoady@bownhpd.gov.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
