Kudos to the Southern New Hampshire Jewish Mens' Club for this morning's forum with candidates for New Hampshire's open Senate seat, 2nd District Congressional seat, and governorship. Great turnout, great questions, nicely run all around. It's a tribute to the Jewish community to be able to host such an event.
It was good to see the candidates up close, to hear their voices and read their body language.
I'm going to start having something to say about the election in the coming days -- not who to vote for, but how to approach an election "spiritually." I have two first reactions to what I heard -- and I only got to hear Kelly Ayotte, Paul Hodes, and Charlie Bass, so that's a caveat. First, it was a lot of canned speeches in response to thoughtful questions, and I was disappointed about that. Nuanced questions from insightful citizens deserve better -- this goes for D's and R's alike.
Second, there seems to be such a consensus at least in New Hampshire about the importance of renewable energy for jobs and the economic future. It's a shame and a shonda that this Congress couldn't get a bill to the president.
More to come about how Jews and Torah might frame the issues and approach the vote, beyond "liberal" and "conservative."
