Warren appears on NECN to discuss GOP presidential race

Meredith Warren made several recent appearances on New England Cable News (NECN) to discuss Republican presidential politics.

On Thursday, Warren was interviewed by NECN reporter Alison King regarding the upcoming Ames, Iowa straw poll.

And, on Friday, Warren appeared as a guest commentator on NECN's Morning Show opposite host Bridget Blythe. The topic was Thursday night's Iowa GOP presidential debate.

Warren's comments on the debate also appear in today's Concord, NH Patch.

An Oscar-worthy political video

"Black Swan" and "The King's Speech" are great movies. But, we think the Oscar nominating committee should really take a look at Tim Pawlenty's new video which debuted in New Hampshire last night.


Alternate Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfkNEq1XioE

No, we're not endorsing Pawlenty for anything or picking favorites in the 2012 presidential race. (Pawlenty isn't even an announced candidate.) But it's tough not to get goosebumps when you watch this video.

It's a minute and a half of carefully chosen, universally-accepted images of poignant and patriotic American themes. It's like a trailer from an inspiring movie that you'd really like to go and see, and what better way to kick off a political campaign? It also uses extremely high cinematic quality production values, not to mention inspiring music and effects. And there isn't any of the anger or vitriol that the political right has been criticized for.

In fact, it reminds us a lot of another video that inspired the nation many years ago:


Alternate Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY

No matter what Pawlenty's intentions are, this video is a clear message to President Obama that the Republicans also have what it takes to tap into the emotions of American voters, and that Democrats don't necessarily have a corner on the market when it comes to emotional campaigns.

We hope it's a sign of things to come from the GOP field at all levels in 2012.

New Hampshire straw poll adds political sizzle to a frigid New England weekend

Most of New England lies encased in a frigid blanket of snow and ice this weekend.

But politics will be positively hot in New Hampshire tomorrow as almost 500 Republican activists meet to elect a new party chair and conduct a presidential straw poll.

This will warm the hearts of avid political watchers longing for the next big race. But tomorrow's straw poll also will provide useful information for those hoping for a barometer of how conservative the GOP base considers itself to be and what qualities are being sought in our next president.