I’ve just spent a few weeks in Italy for work, and conversations with European friends and colleagues left me both humbled and a little haunted. The most common, almost automatic question they asked was: “How could America do this again?” (Meaning, elect Trump.)
Having to answer that—over and over—really made me reflect. Why could this happen again? And what’s our part in preventing it?
I had time to think (and research, thanks to fast and free WiFi on high-speed trains—Italy gets that part right!). What hit me hardest was this: We, as Democrats, are trying to be everything to everyone, and in doing so, we risk becoming nothing to anyone. From education and healthcare to the environment and housing, we fight for it all—but from the outside, we look scattered, unfocused, and reactive.
In places like Dover, we might feel “safe,” but that complacency is dangerous. “Vote for us—we’re not them” only worked once. It’s not a winning message anymore.
I run my businesses. If I don’t focus, I fail. In politics, it’s no different.
To win the statehouse, the NH House and Senate, as well as local races, we need simple, bold, results-driven messages that answer two clear questions:
- Why does the current leadership need to go?
- Why is our candidate the better hire?
Here are three core issues that cut through the noise: EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, and the ECONOMY.
🎓 EDUCATION
The NH GOP has systematically weakened our schools. Underfunded, inefficient, and inequitable. Public dollars are helping millionaires send their kids to private schools while our classrooms lack supplies and teachers live on the edge.
Our Message:
We’ll target education funds to families and schools that need it most. No gimmicks—just real investment in our public schools.
🏥 HEALTHCARE
In rural NH, access to maternal care is evaporating. Policies that limit access and increase cost hurt real families. Governor Ayotte has kept those in place.
Our Message:
We’ll work with local hospitals and clinics to restore essential healthcare access across the state. Starting a family should not require a two-hour drive to the nearest birthing center.
💼 THE ECONOMY
While the GOP fearmongers about “illegals” on the northern border, let’s talk about our real borders—with Massachusetts and the seacoast. We have opportunity right in front of us.
Our Message:
Let’s make NH a destination for business and talent. Invest in infrastructure—rail, roads, ports—to connect us better to the region. Build partnerships like the Dover Riverfront Project that boost jobs, tourism, and sustainability. Protect the industries that matter—like fishing and clean water.
The great thing about infrastructure is that it is literally a 2 way street. Better roads allow us to get NH made products to market and people to work but also ease the difficulties getting products and people into NH
We ALL pay taxes. Let’s show people what they actually get for it.
We must stop being afraid to stand for something. Stop whispering in corners and start speaking up—in public, in the press, and yes, at protests. Before every time we are holding signs on a downtown corner or when we are at a gathering before we head out to pick up garbage at a Don’t Trash Dover event- someone needs to speak. It shouldn’t be a huge speech. Just a statement with a quotable sound bite
Where are our voices? Where’s our boldness?
Trump fills arenas. Bernie and AOC speak to packed halls. Why? Because they speak to real kitchen-table issues. Populists and reformers win. The “status quo” candidates don’t. Look at history: Carter, Bush Sr., Biden/ Harris. We need passion. We need presence.
We should be flooding YouTube and social media with clear, 15-second spots on our core issues. That’s how you get a message out in 2025. We don’t have time to wait for someone else to do it.
Let’s be the party that offers people something to believe in—not just something to fear.
Yes, I’m just a guy with time to think on a train in Italy. But I’m also a citizen who because of my work knows what leadership, focus, and action looks like.
We need to tie every member of the NH GOP with Trump and MAGA policies. These policies that are hugely unpopular. Cynically, there is no downside. They want to prove they are NOT a MAGA loyalist and come up with some policies that actually help NH citizens- great! That is good for all of us. I just don’t think they have the backbone to do it
Let’s show NH—and the country—what it looks like when we actually deliver.