I definately see the point of the people on these boards who are worried about the cheering on of NH at the expense of logical discourse.
Good thing it is logical cheering.

Anyone who has read our
101 Reasons to vote for New Hampshire or our
list of NH advantages with an open mind realizes that NH offers many, many advantages not found in other states.
But, many of those same people who support NH have been starting a lot of threads and saying a lot of things, not all of which are logical.
Actually, the "illogical" reasons are now on a list called "The reasons NH would not be the perfect choice for the FSP" which may be found at
http://www.freestatenh.com/fspnhchoice.htmlTouting only the best points of a place and ignoring the worst points should not have a place on these boards.
Every state has people touting for it, and when you want to express your support for something, you talk about it's good things. But, we haven't ignored the bad things, and have tried our best to explain why they are either minor issues (eg. population), or misunderstood in the light of the unique New England system of Government (eg. population)

It worries me greatly that there are people here who would not listen to reason even if you shoved it down their throat.
People look at different things, my friend. What's reason to one person is spin to another.
New Hampshire has a lot of benefits. There is an established LP cheering us on, lots of support in the forums and by members, and a legislature that allows fusion candidates, a big plus in it's direction. I can certainly see why people cheer it, though I think "cheering" anything is against the spirit of the FSP.
No. Cheering is a good thing, IMNSHO. It is back stabbing and personal attacks which have no place on this forum.
Plus you forgot the multi-seat districts that NH has. In many areas you only need to come in 5th, or 7th or even 14th place to win....
I worry, though, when it comes to NH, about it's population, and more importantly, it's projected population growth.
First, all the states are under the 1:62 ratio Jason proposed. Second, I don't think it is nearly as important to look at total population as it is to look at "What will it take to become as popular as the largest party in the state?" and "How receptive will the voters be to voting for someone with an (L) next to their name?
In NH, for instance

, most state rep candidates only have ~2-3 volunteers and spend ~$500 to get elected. Even challenging all 400 seats, we could have parity with the largest party (R) with only 1200 acitivists and $200k. That's only about 1/16 the project's expect growth, and $10 a person. Put another way, if we get the full 20k, donating $100 each, we would have 16x the volunteers and 10x the money of the R's. And the people of NH are USED to voting for Lib candidates. They've elected more Libs than any other candidate state in the country.
In the words of Dr. Teeth of the Electric Mayhem, "Ain't nothing to it but to do it."

"A quarter of NH's legislature is not from NH at all, but the much more statist Massachusetts."
NH offers a haven to tax refugees from other NE states. If you saw the house vote on the last budget, you wouldn't be worried about it. There isn't any more avid supporter of a cause than a convert.
Another quarter of NH's legislature are current or retired lawyers or government employees.
And Tim Condon is a lawyer..... Your point is...?
This is a disturbing trend, and it indicates that getting a foothold in the NH government may not be as easy as we would like to think.
The election laws still make it so that we can essentially waltz into the statehouse en masse. Not sure what the occupations of the people who are going to lose to us have to do with it.
On the other hand, New Hampshire looks like a very good candidate right now. We should be able to get candidates elected within 5 years of our arrival,
Who said anything about 5 years? We have two elections every year in NH, and state rep races every two years. We're going to have the largest Libertarian caucus EVER in the NH state house in 2004. We have the plan, money and resources to put at LEAST 15 Libertarians in the NH State House next year. This is what porcupines will look like in the
NH State House and the
Senate. The largest Lib caucuses EVER are only 18 months away in NH.
So, my view, and the view of many of my contemporaries is thus: Do you want the FSP to make the right choice for the short term, or the long term?
Both. That's why I am supporting New Hampshire.
Quote from: ZuG on Today at 01:36:27am
Since Wyoming is the fallback state
Can you explain this statement, please, Zug?
Actually, that is misinformation put out by NH fans. Wyoming has the smallest districts while, overall, NH's are the ninth smallest. It is really sad that NH supports did this. I am sorry that you fell for it.
Misinformation? Our single seat districts are only ~3k people, as opposed to IIRC, ~8k for Wyoming, those are the only districts where you can compare the 2. In any district with more people, you don't have to come in first, meaning you can canvas to only a smaller group within the district.
Only looking at the single largest district in NH, and ignoring the fact that you can win by coming in 14th place the is not logical.
The only way that makes any sense due to the inherent differences in the systems is to look at min and max #'s of votes needed to win a state rep seat.
Show me a positive response from Benson in regard to suggestions from this commission like reducing gun-control, privatizing schools, de-criminalizing victimless crimes, etc., and then I'll be impressed.
Didn't read our press release, did ya, Zug?
Craig Benson told us school choice is one of the next to things which willl come off his desk. We have permitless open carry, no questions asked (did you hear what happened when two well armed porcupines during the Escape went into the same realtor which Drega shot up, and there was $5,000 on the table?), the easiest cc permits in the country and localities cannot make more restrictive gun laws than the state. Victimless crimes he said he would look at "one by one with an open mind". So, maybe we could only get 90% of our state agenda passed under Benson. Still, our Governor can out-lib your Governor. OR the Governor of ANY of the other states :p
Cheap, easily winnable elections, the FSP and Lib-friendliest Governor in the nation. The largest Lib caucus ever in only 18 months.
The New Hampshire Advantage.