How voters say they pick candidates is an eye-opener

LACONIA — It’s not a statistically significant poll, but the ways that local voters say they choose candidates is an eye-opener, revealing many methods and approaches.

Almost no one interviewed by a reporter last week in coffee shops and lunchtime eateries said they check voting records, which is an indicator of how an incumbent or former legislator votes when the public isn’t watching — but party leaders are.

Many of those questioned said they are skeptical of biases in network news, but pay close attention to candidate interviews and televised debates. A Belmont woman eating breakfast at Cafe Deja Vu said she watches newscasts with opposing slants to arrive at a moderate view.

Almost no one pays attention to candidate postcards, which either blast opponents or peddle glossy images and soundbites. 

“I discard nearly every political ad. Every candidate mailing goes in the wastebasket,” said a Meredith resident at Wayfarer Coffee Roasters.

“It’s definitely buyer beware when it comes to ads on TV,” said a Meredith woman eating breakfast at Cafe Deja Vu.

“I’m not political. I cast my vote and pray to God,” and hope candidates’ votes live up to their stated positions, said Tracy Merriman of Andover, eating lunch at Jon’s Roast Beef and Deli.

Reliance on social media depends on how embedded you are in your community’s Facebook page — and whether you use social media to take the political temperature of neighbors, business associates, family and friends. Candidate pop-up ads boost name recognition, but not necessarily confidence or trust.

In the end, election selections boil down to the guidelines voters devise based on their own values and perspectives. Some are driven by the state of the country, the economy and by stances on national issues. Others pull the lever for candidates who strike them as good people and who behave well in public. How a candidate acts online and in their civic roles can be a deal maker or breaker.

Jim Merriman of Andover consults candidate websites to determine if “they align with my personal beliefs. I look at policies they’re putting forward, and the platform they stand on.”

On two things most agreed: In the wake of COVID, people and politics have become more polarized, vicious and intolerant. More politicians seem to be out for blood, operating without guardrails for conduct or truth.

“Politics has become a middle school game of who can be the most popular kid on the block and kick sand at the others,” said Rev. Scott Jamieson of Meredith at Wayfarer Coffee Roasters.

“I’ve never seen such bashing of candidates or belittling,” said a Lakes Region resident who works in media on the Seacoast. “Instead of focusing on what they want to do, they focus on going after the other guy.”

“Candidates' statements are completely taken out of context,” said Russ Belanger, who lives in Massachusetts and owns a vacation home in Laconia. He said he tries to compare what he reads, watches and hears to what the candidates state on their websites.

A question looms for voters as they head to the polls Nov. 8: Who has the good of the state, the country, and community residents in mind? Who best matches my personal political views? With a plethora of public statements, signs and voter guides from political action committees, and a whirlwind of information from competing sources, the picture can be murky.

“I think it’s become increasingly difficult. We’ve become very skillful at avoiding the real issues. I try to find a candidate whose values are for the greater good and beyond their own self-interest,” said Jamieson, pastor of Church of Another Chance in Meredith. “There are people out there who decide what I should know.”

The majority are low-information voters, said a Meredith resident who declined to be named for fear of backlash from their employer. “Some people blindly do what their girlfriend tells them. They blindly vote.”

The Lakes Region resident working in media on the Seacoast said she goes to Facebook, where she scrutinizes posts. Then she heads to Google to check what she reads. She votes a straight party ticket and agrees that voting records are important. But like most, she never checks them, including on the state Legislature’s website, a direct source of how current and former lawmakers voted on bills and amendments. Visit gencourt.state.nh.us/nhgcrollcalls to look up a candidate.

Johnna Davis, chair of the Gilford Democrat Committee, working at Cafe Deja Vu, said her town committee tried to hold nonpartisan forums on how to become a better educated voter, but no one came. She said she consults the NH Secretary of State’s website, which includes information for voters but not legislator voting records, and uses it to find out whether a candidate is supported by outside PACs. 

But it's not a complete picture: Most political action committees send money directly to political parties and candidates for state and national office. The full trail of money can be a maze — and includes a stew of individual and corporate donations and funding from traditional, hybrid and super PACs, which are political action committees without spending limits. They contribute directly to independent advertising campaigns and election-influencing efforts that are technically not linked to a particular candidate, but strongly reflect a choice. According to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks political donations and expenditures, for the 2021 to 2022 election cycle, ACT BLUE, the largest Democrat super PAC, raised over $1.83 billion compared with $1.04 billion by WIN RED, the largest Republican Super PAC.

According to USA Facts.org, a database of government and political spending, PACs spent $5.89 billion in this election cycle by mid-September, with 50% to 60% of that coming from independent expenditure accounts not subject to spending limits. This shows up in the amount of television, radio and print ads and signs on street corners and lawns, and direct mail political pitches sent to homes.

“I look for the fewest signs on people’s lawns,” said a Laconia resident who declined to give his name. He said he is disenchanted with politics, doesn’t do much research, and reads the local paper but doesn’t check candidate websites or voting records.

“I think it’s better not to vote than to vote ignorantly,” said Charles Dowd of Belmont, heading into Lakeside Eatery in Gilford for lunch. He said he scours candidate websites to “try to figure out who’s doing what and why.” He also scrutinizes voting records.

“Sometimes what they say and do don’t match,” he said. That can include state representatives and senators and members of Congress.

A 67-year-old city resident who voted for the first time in the last election said he votes along party lines. “I see it as corrupt on both sides, so I don’t know who to believe this time. I don’t research further. I go by what the media tells me. With ads, I don’t know who the hell is telling the truth. I’m an average guy who doesn’t know, so I go by what my friends say.” As far as television news sources, “The all say the opposite of each other. They get angry and go at it. I’m not going to get involved in it.”

Corina Cisneros of Belmont, a Realtor in Gilford, emigrated from Venezuela in 1989 and became a U.S. citizen four years ago. Interviewed at Cafe Deja Vu, Cisneros said she reads The Laconia Daily Sun for local politics, including editorials, but doesn’t have time to watch television. She combs The New York Times and Wall Street Journal online, as well as information posted by CNN and the Drudge Report, which she describes as left-leaning. She doesn’t check voting records of state representatives.

“That’s too granular for me,” she said. “I’m still learning how to be an American.”

When it comes to deciding who to pick, “My main issue is the direction of the country in terms of protecting transparency in the voting process. We’re fortunate to have the Constitution, and we need all branches of government running on full cylinders to protect that legacy for our children. Without guardrails [provided by the Constitution and checks and balances by judicial, executive and legislative branches], we just become another lawless country where strongmen do whatever they want,” Cisneros said.

“As soon as people don’t feel represented, everything breaks down.”

Steve Zapora of Belmont said he doesn’t read the newspaper or consult social media.

“I’m voting my wallet this time around. The economy has gone down the tube in the last two years,” he said over breakfast at Cafe Deja Vu. “Anyone who votes with the president we have now is not getting my vote. They say they’re for us, then they go to Washington and vote with [the administration and party leaders] all the time.”

Zapora picks candidates in New Hampshire who share his political perspective on the direction of the country and what’s best for the state. He believes voting records are critical, and would like a quick, unbiased way to check them.

“I pick based on common sense and my beliefs,” said Jeremy Allett of Meredith, eating lunch at Jon’s Roast Beef. He looks at “what’s relevant today and how candidates stand on problems facing the country.”

“I want candidates who put American people first, making sure they’re taken care of, and veterans are taken care of,” said his wife, Keri Allett.

“If you’re a good human being, it doesn’t matter what party you’re from,” said Lynne at Cafe Deja Vu, who declined to give her last name because she said she’s well known locally.

“My brother has a big moral compass and I talk to him. I read Facebook, Google candidates, and talk to a lot of people,” following both Democrats and Republicans on social media. She said she’s never voted a straight ticket or consulted candidates’ voting records.

“It never occurred to me,” she said.

“You know when somebody’s not a good human being by their postings, whether someone’s educated or not. Just because someone says ‘God bless you’ doesn’t mean they’re a good person.”

Susan Allen of Laconia, interviewed at Cafe Deja Vu, said she employs a similar approach, and doesn’t judge based on media coverage. To her, candidate voting records “don’t have any bearing.” Statements and behavior in the community are more important, she said.

“I look for an ability to reason,” Jamieson said. “So many candidates on both sides have taken the bait. They’ve lost the ability to think for themselves, and that imperils us all. What’s popular isn’t always right, and what’s right isn’t always popular.”

Jamieson said he doesn’t look up candidates’ voting records, which he believes “gets convoluted and complex.” As an independent, “I’d rather know why a candidate voted the way they did, rather than how they voted on one issue.”

Billy Irwin of Laconia, eating lunch at Jon’s Roast Beef, said voting records are a barometer for accountability, indicating whether candidate does what they say they’ll do, and whether their actions represent what they say they believe.

“I don’t actively check them, but I would if they were made public in a way that was effortless,” he said.