YOUR COMMENTS

It should be extremely worrisome to the Republican Party that the head of the Republican Governors' Association is Haley Barbour. This man had an aide who, in front of reporters, advised him to avoid a state fair appearance while campaigning because there would be too many 'coons' there. Barbour's response was to tell the aide that if he used that term, he would be "reincarnated at a watermelon and left at the mercy of the blacks." He has also refused to denounce the suburban incarnation of the KKK, the Conservative Citizen's Council, an explicitly white-supremacist group on whose front page Haley Barbour's picture appears. But racism and intolerance are part of the Republican Party these days, so perhaps it's not surprising.
- Peter, Canterbury

If McCain showed conservatives one thing ... it is that pandering to the left doesn't work. Conservatives didn't vote for McCain because he was the same as the democrats. More than ever republicans need to hold to the core values of conservatism.

Obama will help republicans win next term because of his super liberal, pro-homosexual, "America is bad" policies. We just need a republican leader who has the guts to take a stand for morality. national defense, and limited government. I think Ron Paul would be a good choice.
- David, Bedford

Thanks, Tom! Mr. Barbour, you will get me back when you explain the principles the Republican Party stands for. Judd, Jeb, and Fergus cannot. The national luminaries trying to reinvent a Republican Party for a permanent welfare state are reasoning from the assumption that you will fail if you try to educate.
- Spike, Brentwood NH

While I can say I do like Barbour, he did his job very well in '94. Since then the Republicrats abandoned the bottom up who put them in power.
I don't believe I will be exposing my bottom again thank you.
I'll count on my self and painkillers when Obama's healthcare passes.
- Michael, Manchester

Yawn....principles, Mr. Barbour, principles and actions. Lead and people will follow, pander and none will. The GOP can begin by showing some backbone and derailing the rest of Obama's catastrophic agenda.
- Tom, Campton

If Haley Barbour is one of the leaders of the Republican party--then they're in bigger trouble than they thought. C'mon, the GOP needs to find new leaders with new ideas--now!
- Zayas, maplewood,NJ

Mississippi's Haley Barbour is the only Republican governor to whom the GOP can go for leadership. Alaska's Palin shows up and fails to speak, Louisiana's Jindal speaks but bombs, Texas' Perry threatens to again have his state leave America, and South Carolina's Sanford does leave America.
- Charles Stewart, Jackson MS

The credibility of the Republican party has dwindled to the point that it cannot be resuscitated. Will the Republican party continue to try and legislate morality and claim the moral high ground as more of their leaders are exposed for their blatant hypocrisy? It's well past time for a third party that can bring fiscal discipline to the government while staying out of your personal life. I am going to drop my vote on every Libertarian who chooses to run for any office from this day forward.
- Herb C., Concord

Brazen, bold faced liars - all of them - in both parties. Politics has surpassed law as being the most hated, ethically challenged profession.
- Lou, Bedford

If Barbour implies that the tent should be bigger, then why haven't Snowe and Collins come out of hiding? Why don't they stand up and grab the banner? Or the bullhorn? And where's Specter?

His mere appearance here means the party is more to the right than he is willing to admit. That's not going to change anytime soon.
- Steve, Manch

Dear Mr. Barbour: NO

The GOP shouldn't have to change to suit a few people who don't follow the platform. Rather they should change to fit with the GOP values or just stop whining. Period.

You don't see Democrats being kind to those who don't cater to their extreme left wing.. I mean just look at what is going on now! We're being set up for darned dictatorship under the world bank for cryin' out loud! And while the country is being looted and handed back to England, not a word from you Dims is heard.

The extreme left is in power. They are dangerous.

It will take major correction to get back to the Constitution. Because that's what 'extreme right' really means -- people who are tired of too much government control and taxation, and not enough respect for the true role of government. The 'right' are not people who are thinking wrong like Janet Napolitano from Homeland Stupidity decreed.
- Sue, Manchester

Barbour said the party should also strive to be inclusionary, adding that the need for coalitions and to attract more voters means it is not the time to focus on "purity."

By "purity" he wouldn't be talking about adultery?
- Chip, Wilton

"The Republican Party needs to rebuild from the bottom up" Will our State GOP mucky mucks get the message, it's from the bottom up stupid, not from the top down. Our out of touch leadership the likes of the soon to be former Senator Judas Gregg stop contemplating their collective navels and begin to speak the language of the grass-roots Republican voter. The Party in NH has got to get rid permanently of the glass ceiling and give more than token recognition to the full participation of women in the high echelons of the organization. The umbrella that was created some years ago is badly in need of repair and the conservatives in the party have got to stop designating as RINO's those who disagree with them, they are not the sole source of Republican thinking. The "Good Ole Boys Club" had better start opening some windows and letting some fresh air in. The reality is that the Democrats have made some big inroads and our party will never dominate the elective process like it has in the past and we will have to overhaul it to stay competitive. I hope after all the applauding of Barbour's speech that some visible action will be taking "from the ground up" so that we can start winning elections again.
- Richard L. Fortin, Manchester

Says the leader of the Whig Party.
- Tom, Dover-Foxcroft, Me.

Too bad Barbour says he's not running.

I kinda like "the cut of his jib".
- Larry Gillis, Cape Coral FL

Yawn. Same old tired party line, Barbour. The foolishness captured in your quotations above got us here. Lead from the front like the USMC does and leverage us in the motivated, energized, very upset Republican Wing of the Republican Party ... or else just go away.
- Ed Holdgate, Sandown, NH