Republican Candidates Clash, Play The Lynch Card

The two Republican gubernatorial candidates spent much of their time in tonight’s televised debate clashing while comparing, contrasting and criticizing Gov. John Lynch.

Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne started things off by saying how they would either like to be, or not like to be, the outgoing governor.

Lamontagne, who has said he would like to be a combination of Lynch and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ("Scott Lynch"), said that he would like to be Lynch-like in some ways. He praised the Democratic governor’s connection with the public and appearances at events, but criticized what he calls a lack of leadership in the corner office.

“He managed government in a respectful way, but has not been a leader,” said Lamontagne in the WMUR debate at Saint Anselm College.

Smith on the other hand took great measure to distance himself from the popular four-term governor.

“I am not running for governor to be Mr. Congeniality,” said Smith. “I am running for governor to lead.”

He stressed that Lynch did not tackle important challenges in the state and that he would be the one to do so.

The two candidates had very different answers on whether they agree with former Gov. John Sununu’s comments that John Lynch is the state’s 'worst governor.'

Smith continued to separate himself from Lynch and said he would rather be more like John Sununu. Lamontagne agreed with part of the former governor’s statement, saying that Lynch did fail to produce results.

Later in the debate, Smith went after Lamontagne for labeling himself “Scott Lynch,” asking if the Republican party could trust someone like that. Lamontagne emphasized his position on not blindly following one party and relying on it to get elected.

“I don’t use a party label as a speed pass to entry,” he said.

In response to accusations of his faithfulness to Republican ideals, Lamontagne brought up that Smith changed parties while working under Sen. Bob Smith, who became an independent briefly in 2000.

Labels came up again when a moderator asked about Lamontagne’s claim that he is not an “insider” because he has not been elected to office. He claims he is an “outsider” in this race and will speak for the people.

Of course, no label is more sought after in the Republican primary than the “conservative” designation, and the candidates worked to prove that they were the conservative for the job.

Smith talked about his long-term plans to cut business taxes in order to grow the state’s economy and bring more jobs to the area. This includes lowering electric rates and fixing healthcare cost issues in New Hampshire.

Lamontagne criticized Smith for planning too far ahead in an office term that only lasts two years. He has been calling for more moderate cuts while in office.

“One legislature cannot bind the next,” said Lamontagne. “To promise the kind of cuts we have heard, it is just reasonable.”

The candidates seemed to disagree on most every point, including expansion of gambling, education and the death penalty.

On gambling, Lamontagne said that he is personally against gambling, but would work to target areas where it could be possible, like Rockingham Park in Salem. Smith was more open to expanding gambling through a bidding process, and attacked his opponent for reversing his views on the issue.

“The only thing he has been consistent on is being inconsistent on this issue,” said Smith.

Lamotagne stood firm on his stance against the death penalty, specifically the Kimberly Cates Law that would extend the death penalty to home invasion murders.

“I am pro-life from the moment of conception to moment of natural death,” he said.

Smith disagreed and supports capital punishment in cases where the crime is heinous and as terrible as the Mont Vernon attack.

Education reform was also a hot topic at this debate, with Smith looking to restore some of the state aid, and Lamontagne planning on scholarship programs.

The two candidates even disagreed on the right technology to use nowadays. Smith made a slight jab at Lamontagne for still using a Blackberry phone after comments about his youth came up (he is 35). Of course, he added another jab at his opponent’s views as well.

“I will not for political purposes exploit my opponent's old and outdated ideas because of his age,” joked Smith.

The candidates may have set out to show their differences, but they did agree on some topics. Both believe that the Northern Pass project issue needs to be addressed in a different way, substance abuse issues need to be addressed, and that New Hampshire needs to be a Right To Work state.