Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
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The political system drove her out of the Republican Party 15 years ago.
“I was so turned off by it, I registered as an independent,” Carol Kelly said.
Other New Hampshire independents, like Harry Wright, 77, of Bradford, N.H., were clearly eyeing the Democratic presidential field.
Wright said he was put off by Trump.
“The rhetoric is hateful and divisive,” he said. “The policies of tending to his wealthy base are troubling.”
A retired engineer and sales consultant, Wright said he saw Biden in Concord and was leaning toward the former vice president “because I think he is the most able to win.”
Marcia Kelly, 64, of Hanover, N.H., is planning to vote in the Democratic primary, but she said she would not “vote for Joe.”
“I don’t think Joe Biden could win the Democratic primary,” Kelly said, let alone the general election.
But she said she’s ruled out the Republican Party for the foreseeable future.
“I’m so much in disagreement with where their party politics are heading,” Kelly said.
“I’m really centrist politically, and I’m not interested in pledging allegiance to any party,” she explained.
Results matter
That view was most prevalent at the Problem Solvers Convention. The confab focused less on the candidates and more on issues and positions that would provide government results.
Most of the people who spoke up, or to reporters in hallways, said in one way or another that Washington and Congress can only work with bipartisan consensus. The alternative is more gridlock that has paralyzed the system.
Margaret White, the executive director of No Labels, said the convention was held to push for results, and not polarization.
Writing for The Hill newspaper in Washington, White cited a recent nonpartisan Pew Research Center survey that found “majorities in both parties say it is very important that elected officials be willing to make compromises with their opponents to solve important problems.”
White said that eventually a Democratic nominee will emerge, and he or she, like Trump, “will need every possible vote in battleground states, which include New Hampshire.”
The list of battleground states includes Nevada.