November 7th, 2007 -
NH Asks Outlines Daily Ad Buy to Urge Presidential Candidates to Answer Questions
News Conference
Thursday, November 8, Concord, NH, 11:30 a.m.
The Capitol Grille, 1 Eagle Square (Lunch Provided)
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7—The founder and executive director of NH Asks meets the press Thursday to detail his organization’s advertising campaign aimed at urging presidential candidates to “come clean,” answer questions, and truly engage in a dialogue with ‘First in the Nation’ primary voters.
Nathaniel Gurien modeled this citizens’ organization on Thomas Jefferson’s belief that “to survive and thrive,” our democracy must have an informed citizenry. “We’re giving the candidates the opportunity to take the higher ground, to be responsive to New Hampshire’s voters, and to answer in a straightforward, truthful manner. We, the voters of New Hampshire, take our primary vote very seriously, and we would like to see the candidates acknowledge our questions with serious answers.”
NH Asks last week began a series of newspaper ads across the state that will soon run every day until the New Hampshire primary election, asking questions of the top 16 Democratic and Republican candidates—questions they have refused to answer, hedged their answers, or simply changed the subject when confronted with difficult questions.
NH Asks plans to rank the candidates on —Straightforwardness, Truthfulness & Responsiveness—with its STR scale. Gurien said he expects the campaigns will quickly respond in order to gain a high STR rating.
NH Asks works on behalf of our citizens to press the candidates, and lead them to accountability. NH Asks will begin publishing in our advertisements the candidates’ individual ratings – usually one week after posing questions. Candidates’ ratings will also be posted on the NH Asks website, www.nh-asks.org. This will provide New Hampshire voters a clear indication of where the candidates stand on the issues.
Candidates are encouraged to answer via public statement, press release, and/or submit answers for unedited publication on our website. All citizens, in NH and around the country, are invited to cast their STR votes for each question for inclusion in any and all candidates’ STR rating. Candidates’ NH Asks STR rating will be impacted by non-responsiveness as well as the straightforwardness and truthfulness of their responses.
“The voters of New Hampshire have a right to a truthful and honest understanding of the positions, accomplishments, and policies of those who represent us, and those who seek to represent us,” Gurien said.