• Show live from the NH Primary primary radio row, Manchester, NH.
• Guest: Melissa Etheridge, supporting Dennis Kucinich.
• Guest: James Boyce, Senior Advisor on John Kerry's 2004 Presidential Campaign, Huffington Post, MSNBC.
• Guest: Terry Shumaker, a former Democratic National Committee member and U.S. ambassador to Trinidad.
• Guest: Former US ambassador to Portugal Elizabeth Frawley Bagley.
• Guests: Tim Tyler, Margie Norton, Andrew C. Murphy of the Hunter School.
• Guests: Jim Dean, Democracy For America. and Daniel Medress, Communications Director.
• Guests: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, presidential candidate, and his wife Elizabeth.
• Guest: David Bonior, campaign manager for John Edwards.
• Guest: New Hampshire state Senate President Sylvia Larsen.
• Guest: Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club Political Director.
• Guest: John J. Thyng, Jr., State Director of New Hampshire for Health Care.
• Guest: Senator Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, chairman of the Finance Committee in the New Hampshire Senate.

Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.

Tuesday 08 January '08 National show

• Show live from the NH Primary primary radio row, Manchester, NH. New Hampshire is holding the first primary today - Iowa was a caucus.
• Article: Chamber of Commerce vows to punish anti-business candidates.
  "Alarmed at the increasingly populist tone of the 2008 political campaign, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is set to issue a fiery promise to spend millions of dollars to defeat candidates deemed to be anti-business.

  "We plan to build a grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you in the butt, you bleed," chamber President Tom Donohue said.

  "
• Guest: Melissa Etheridge, supporting Dennis Kucinich. Thom saw his ad on TV this morning. She wants to keep him in running so his word gets out. Media filter. U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue alarmed at populism. Soft fascism. Gay rights.
• Bumper Music: Ain't No Surplus, Capitol Steps. (video)
• Article: Romney Gets Tearful Recalling War Toll.
  "Mitt Romney's eyes filled with tears Monday as the Republican presidential contender recalled watching the casket of a soldier killed in Iraq return to the United States and imagined if it were one of his five sons."
• Article: At Fort Benning, a Quiet Response to a Presidential Visit.
  "The pictures were just what the White House wanted: A teary-eyed President Bush presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to a slain war hero in the East Room."
• Article: Gates shows hurt over war deaths.
  "Robert Gates almost broke down as he gave a speech at a Marine Corps dinner... Mr Gates's show of feeling suggests that he brings a more human side to the role of defense secretary."
• Article: Shedding Tears, Bush Tells Baptists of Praying as Gulf War Neared.
  "Wiping away tears as he recalled praying at Camp David before ordering the start of the Persian Gulf war, President Bush today offered a testimony of emotion, politics and faith to a cheering crowd of thousands of Southern Baptists."
• Article: Media Torn Over Whether To Cast Clinton As ‘Weak’ Or ‘Calculating’ For ‘Emotional’ Display.
• Guest: James Boyce, Senior Advisor on John Kerry's 2004 Presidential Campaign and blogger at Huffington Post and Democratic strategist for MSNBC. Hillary Clinton teary last night. Others have shown tears and it was considered a good thing. You can now click and see the video, go look for yourself. Dean might have survived the scream this time round, because there would be videos online. He is not supporting a particular candidate. It was a mistake by Kerry waiting to respond to swiftboaters. No names, but the DC consultants focus grouped responses - maybe they were unprintable. Obama wave. They are expecting half the state to vote today.
• Guest: Terry Shumaker, a former Democratic National Committee member and U.S. ambassador to Trinidad, who co-chaired President Clinton's New Hampshire primary campaigns in 1992 and 1996. Hillary. Dixville Notch declared for Obama and McCain. Thom spent an hour with Alex Bennett of Sirius, and Bill Richardson dropped by. Retail politics. This year is different in that the calendar so compressed, he's been doing 40 years, and delivered leaflets for Eugene McCarthy as a student. Attorney. On Hillary's steering committee. The exclusion of Dennis Kucinich from debate. NH does not exclude anybody; there are 42 candidates on the ballot, 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats. The only requirement is to fill in and sign a 1 page form, and a payment of $1,000 if you can afford it. Hillary's emotion. Last year people were saying they have it wrapped up, but they did not count on voters. Hillary feels being rejected? She's not like the media paint her. Hillary applied to be an astronaut and was told it was men only.
• Guest: Former US ambassador to Portugal Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, from the early Clinton administration. "Would you vote for Laura bush?" Hillary went to Portugal. Hillary was Bill's eyes and ears, travelled to 85 countries, human face, delivered tough messages to presidents. She went to the Beijing UN women's conference. Hillary founded the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative, started micro financing. Letter from former ambassadors about what she did. She had an office in the West Wing, and has kept her staff. Childrens' health care did not pass, so she worked incrementally. Champion for women and children. FDR economic royalists.
• Guests: Tim Tyler, director of the Hunter School, house parent Margie Norton and student Andrew C. Murphy. In 1978 Thom and Louise moved to New Hampshire, ended up at Stinson lake, and founded the Salem Childrens' Village, and later the Hunter School, which is named after Thom's "Hunter in a Farmer's world" metaphor. Thom is still in the board of both. There are currently 23 students in the school which is for boys and girls with ADHD, Aspergers etc. The focus is on strength based education. The children do projects. Andrew did politics. They did a straw poll with students representing the candidates; Hillary and Paul won. Vegetarian diet. Thom was there 1978 to 1983. Some of the kids went to see Obama and Oprah or Mitt Romney. The kids wrote speeches and gave them in front of a large group. There is also a nature based program.
• Bumper Music: Don't Bring Me Down, Electric Light Orchestra.
• Guests: Jim Dean, Democracy For America. and Daniel Medress, Communications Director. Great day; there could be half a million voters. They have only supported Democratic candidates, but are open to everybody like Greens, Independents, and Republicans who want to take their party back. It's about activism. Workshops $60 for 2 days, 2 lunches.
• Bumper Music: The Americans, John Mellencamp.
• Guests: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, presidential candidate, and his wife Elizabeth. They met through a Global Renaissance Department of Peace conference over a decade ago, through Marianne Wilkinson. Having a continual progressive voice is so important, keep up the voice. This morning the media seems to be struggling with how to portray Hillary Clinton tearing up yesterday - a sign of weakness, or deliberate? Media narratives about candidates are not truthful. Herd mentality. How do we change that? Stop media corporations from being monopolies, or being integrated vertically with other industries. They should provide free time to federal candidates. We need public finance of elections. The media executives should not be permitted to contribute to candidates. They are all licensed by the government and are supposed to broadcast in the public interest. ABC excluding him from the last debate was an example of how the media has become a power unto itself with its own agenda. Jobs. Health care. Peace. Sustainable energy. He fulfilled the criteria for being on the program, winning polls. He is polling higher than Richardson.

  The other candidates are similar to each other and the Republicans. Change. We need to stand up for change, and he is the progressive candidate. They have filed a lawsuit. There ought to be a debate, not a monologue in 4 tones. He is the voice against war, and the media is linked to the pro-war defense industry. The military industrial media complex, as Thom put it. It's worse than Dwight Eisenhower imagined. Hillary Clinton about single payer health care. Thom saw his commercial on the TV this morning. He's affecting the dialogue. He has no delusions about being the underdog there, but millions of Americans are the underdogs in health care. He's getting a strong response from all sides. The presidency is a major vehicle, but it is important to stand up for what you believe in, change. Support for Ron Paul is because of a spirit of rebellion, not the issues. Similar for Obama. How can we make him more progressive? Kucinich has to stay in the race; he changed Howard Dean.

• Bumper Music: Time Has Come, David James.
• Guest: David Bonior, campaign manager for John Edwards. Time to make a change. Edwards. Stand up to entrenched interests. Sitting at the table, like Obama suggests, has not worked. We need an FDR. It's about the rules of the game. Lack of laws or enforcement - labor, safety standards, discrimination, e.g. Wal-mart. Dennis Kucinich is progressive, unelectable. How Edwards got his money. Union organizing drives. Poverty.
• Guest: New Hampshire state Senate President Sylvia Larsen. Salem children's village, Thom hopes she is for funding. Democrats took over in 2006. She's for Hillary. She knew and supported Bill Clinton. Hillary would ready from day 1. They checked out the candidates. They had Obama over to her home. Hillary experience, commitment to women, families, kids, education, health care. She knows how long it takes to get to know the system. International experience. Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire won though criminal dirty tricks. How come he is still in Senate? Karl Rove involved. Impeachment? What's happening with Republicans? Ron Paul supporters everywhere. Is the Republican Party imploding? No strong message or message-bearer, they are all over the place.
• Bumper Music: Have a Nice Day Bon Jovi.
• Guest: Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club Political Director. They are non partisan. They have not endorsed anyone yet. Record air temperatures on New Hampshire primary day. Global warming. America's energy policy. History of Sierra Club. Cap and trade.
• Bumper Music: Tonsils in Taiwan, Jim Terr, Blue Canyon Productions.
• Thom has been putting on the best of who is available, and there are lots of Hillary people.
• Guest: John J. Thyng, Jr., State Director of New Hampshire for Health Care. SEIU. Booklet, comparison of candidates, sent to 70,000 healthcare voters. The top 3 Democrats have similar plans. Edwards' allowing anyone to buy into Medicare would drive for profit insurers out. No comprehensive plans from Republicans. Romney signed the Democrats' plan when he was governor. Indentured servitude having to stay with a job because of an existing illness. Health care costs deter people from starting companies. Chamber President Tom Donohue's threat. Nevada and SC have similar organizations.
• Bumper Music: I Won't Back Down , Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
• Guest: Senator Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, chairman of the Finance Committee in the New Hampshire Senate. He teaches political science at college. Great development. Best set of candidates - he listed the strengths of each. People unhappy, want change. Issues. Socialist programs. JFK.
• Tomorrow Thom should be back in Portland.