Raymond Buckley

New Hampshire Democratic party chair Raymond Buckley issued the following statement Wednesday evening regarding the Republican National Convention:

"It is likely and understandable that a great deal of attention will be devoted to the speech Gov. Palin delivers tonight; however, sharper focus should be applied to the path she took to arrive at the podium as the Republican nominee for vice president and the process John McCain embarked upon to get her there.

"I urge voters to compare the results of Sen. McCain's vice presidential selection process with that of Sen. Obama who chose someone with vast experience in foreign and domestic affairs, someone whom Sen. Obama knew well, someone who would be ready at a moment's notice to assume the duties of commander-in-chief.

"No matter how well Gov. Palin does tonight, her performance will do nothing to erase legitimate questions about Sen. McCain's judgement, which, in this case, has placed someone with no national security or foreign policy experience within a heartbeat of the presidency."

In his daily statement on the Republican National Convention, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley said presumptive GOP presidential pick John McCain can't leave his ties to President Bush out of the discussion at the convention.

Bush is scheduled to speak Tuesday night via satelite -- not in person -- which Buckley said is part of an attempt by the Republicans to minimize the president's impact on McCain's bid.

"Despite President Bush's decision not to appear at the Republican National Convention in person, John McCain cannot put any real distance between himself and George Bush when it comes to their shared record of failure on issues impacting working families," Buckley said.

New Hampshire's Democratic party chair Raymond Buckley will be issuing a daily statement in response to the Republican National Convention, but for today, he is following U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's lead and putting politics aside.

Days after U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) suffered a seizure, doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have diagnosed the 76 year-old Democrat with a malignant brain tumor. New Hampshire's political community is expressing its support for the stricken senator.

Democrats and Republicans alike are sending their best wishes to Kennedy and his family.

Using an open format that allows almost anyone to post comments, the website Blue Hampshire has become a daily read for Granite State Democrats.

Founded in November 2006 by bloggers Mike Caulfield, Laura Clawson and Dean Barker the site now has 1,300 registered users and receives almost 5,000 page views per day.