WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30, UPDATE: MITT GOING POSITIVE. Mitt Romney's new television ad going up in New Hampshire Wednesday afternoon is a shift from last week's controversial ad attacking President Barack Obama.

The 30-second spot is all positive, all about Romney and does not mention Obama or any of the other Republican presidential candidates.

The full ad, entitled "The Right Answer," is a Romney response to a question from the Sept. 12 CNN debate in Florida :

“I spent my life in the private sector. I've competed with companies around the world. I've learned something about how it is that economies grow.

“But we're not going to balance the budget just by pretending that all they have to do is take out the waste. We're going to have to cut spending. And I'm in favor of cutting spending, capping federal spending as a percentage of GDP at 20 percent or less, and having a balanced budget amendment.

“The right answer for America is to stop the growth of the federal government and to start the growth of the private sector.”

The video shows Romney standing with supporter Sen. Kelly Ayotte and various flattering shots of him shaking hands with prospective voters.

National Journal reported the buy is $85,535 on WMUR for ads that will run until Dec. 6.

Romney had a smaller ad buy last week targeting Obama just as he came to New Hampshire. The ad caused controversy because it did not contain a full quote of Obama paraphrasing 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

(Earlier updates and the full Nov. 17 Granite Status follows.)

TUESDAY, NOV. 29, UPDATE: CAIN TO “REASSESS.” Herman Cain certainly sounded like a candidate planning to reassess whether to stay in the presidential race during a conference call Tuesday morning.

But his top spokesman sent mixed messages after the call on whether Cain dropping out is, in fact, under consideration, thus adding to the confusion that has surrounded Cain for weeks now.

Cain, on the call with staff, supporters and invited reporters (including the Granite Status) again denied allegations by Ginger White that the two had a 13-year extramarital affair.

“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” Cain told 94 people who were announced as being on the call.

“The public is going to have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me,” the embattled GOP presidential hopeful said. “That's why we're going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”

Cain is scheduled to return to New Hampshire Wednesday night and meet with supporters and the media at about 8:30 p.m. at his state campaign headquarters at 62 Lowell St., Manchester, said spokesman Charlie Spano.

On the conference call, Cain did not specifically say he was reassessing whether he would continue his candidacy, but the message seemed clear.

He noted that he has reassessed his campaign at least four previous times, and added, “Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people's minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth.”

He said he will continue his schedule “as usual” during the next several days, including a speech tonight in Michigan, which he said he will deliver with “vim, vigor, and enthusiasm.”

Cain added, “But if a decision is made, different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know.”

Didn't this mean Cain is considering dropping out?

“It's a reassessment of where we stand and the road ahead, similar to other times in the campaign's history,” Cain's national spokesman, J.D. Gordon told the Granite Status in an email after the call.

“We're looking forward to getting back on message (Tuesday) night with the foreign policy and national security speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan.”

Gordon did not respond to our request for a follow-up interview to clarify the matter.

Earlier, but also following the call, Gordon told ABC News, “We are full speed ahead. People are reading way too much into this.”

Gordon told ABC the reassessment is about “campaign strategy” not about whether to stay in the race.

“We are looking at what states we visit, what interviews we do, how we allocate resources, things like that,” Gordon told ABC.

The conference call set-up did not allow anyone to ask Cain questions, a spokesman said.

Cain said he has known White “for a number of years” and was “attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So, thinking that she was a friend _ and I have helped many friends _ I now know that she wasn't the friend that I thought she was. But it was just a friendship relationship”

He said he reassessed his campaign during the summer “based on our financial situation” and “kept on going.”

“We also did a reassessment after the Iowa straw poll and did another reassessment after the Florida straw poll,” Cain said.

He said after allegations that he sexually harassed former co-workers emerged, “we made another reassessment.

“But our supporters, and even some folks that we didn't have as supporters, they stood with us, and they showed it not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollars,” he said.

Cain said the series of allegations have “taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine.

“Anytime you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, for some people, you're guilty until proven innocent.”

Cain also said any further questions about the alleged affair would be handled by his personal attorney.

“I've said everything I have to say. There's nothing else to say,” he said.

He added, “We have not lost our enthusiasm at this point.”

Cain spokesman Gordon told the Granite Status in an email that Cain still intends to appear at the New Hampshire Union Leader on Thursday for an interview.

New Hampshire Cain spokesman Charlie Spano said that he has heard nothing to indicate that Cain has changed his planned appearances elsewhere in the state on Thursday.

“This is a serious matter to have to deal with but at the same time, the New Hampshire staff is determined to go forward with the campaign and do what is necessary to compete and bring the message of economic revival through his ‘9-9-9 plan' to voters,” Spano said.

Spano said the four members of Cain's New Hampshire staff “believe in his integrity and that this is a man who was helping a friend and has helped friends in his life.”

After news of Cain's announcement broke, Newt Gingrich's campaign said that two New Hampshire House members, Republican Reps. William Panek and Sam Cataldo, both of Farmington, have decided to no longer support Cain and are backing Gingrich instead.

(Earlier updates and the full Nov. 17 Granite Status follow.)]

MONDAY, NOV. 28, UPDATE: MITT vs. MITT. Democrats in New Hampshire and nationally have launched a multi-pronged attack on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, attempting to show that he has flip-flopped on a variety of issues.

A new web video, entitled, “Mitt vs. Mitt: The Story of Two Men Trapped in One Body,” is available on a new website, “MittvMitt.com.” The video alleges Romney flip-flopped on issues ranging from health care to abortion to immigration.

A shorter television ad with the same theme is airing in some states, but not New Hampshire.

Top New Hampshire Romney supporters fired back on Monday.

State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley said the attacks are “very troubling and disappointing when 15 million Americans are out of work and the unemployment rate is 9 percent, and the deficit and the debt of our nation are reaching new highs every day that President Obama, instead of talking about his record and where the country should be headed, has this kind of response.”

Bradley called it a “shameless political attack.”

New Hampshire House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt said the Democrats want to distract voters from “the fundamental choice” they will face in the general election next November between “a President whose policies have failed this country or we can do in a very different direction with a proven leaders who understands how jobs in America are created.”

Bettencourt said the Obama and the Democrats are “going to come right after the Republican that they are most afraid of.”

(Earlier updates and the full Nov. 17 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, NOV. 17, UPDATE: McCAIN'S FAVORITE PLACE. Mitt Romney's campaign tonight announced the candidate will hold a town hall meeting at the historic Peterborough Town House on Saturday at 5:45 p.m.

The site has been host to numerous first-in-the-nation primary events over the years, particularly by two-time primary winner John McCain.

"It is an historical establishment that typifies the quintessential town hall meeting setting that we have come to expect in presidential politics," said former McCain senior adviser Michael Dennehy of Concord.

"Peterborough Town House has more meaning to John McCain than any other place in New Hampshire because it was his last town hall meeting in the 2000 primary, the 2008 primary and the 2008 general election," he said. "John McCain has the fondest of memories at the Town House."

Earlier, the Romney campaign said that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to be in New Hampshire on Saturday, Dec. 3, for surrogate appearances for Romney.

Pawlenty's schedule has not been set but one stop is expected to be at the Romney headquarters in Manchester.

Pawlenty dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing in the Iowa straw poll in August. He endorsed Romney shortly after leaving the race.

(An earlier update and the full Nov. 17 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, NOV. 17, UPDATE: A “ROBUST” PRIMARY. Former state Rep. Kevin Smith said Thursday that fellow conservative Republican candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne is a “good friend” who ran effective campaign for the U.S. Senate last year, but he said Granite Staters must not only focus on candidates' ideas but also on their experience and proposals.

“I think it is going to be a very robust primary and a very robust debate,” Smith, the former executive director of the conservative advocacy group Cornerstone Action, said in a conference call.

As the Granite Status reported, Smith, of Litchfield, filed a political action committee to begin raising money for a run for governor. He said he will make a formal announcement after the Jan. 10 presidential primary.

Lamontagne last year became widely recognized nationally by Tea Party activists and conservative commentators for running a strong underdog U.S. Senate primary race against eventual winner Kelly Ayotte, losing to her by only 1,600 votes.

Lamontagne, a Manchester attorney, announced his candidacy for governor in September. Other Republicans considering running for governor are 2010 gubernatorial nominee John Stephen and newly-reelected Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas.

The lone Democrat officially in the race to succeed outgoing Gov. John Lynch is former state Sen. Maggie Hassan of Exeter.

Confirming our report from a week ago, another Democratic former state senator, Jacquelyn Cilley of Barrington, on Nov. 4 filed a political action committee named “Friends of Jackie Cilley” and is expected to run. Another Democratic former state senator, Betsi DeVries of Manchester, is the treasurer of Cilley's PAC.

Smith, who served on former Gov. Craig Benson's staff and was an assistant director in the state Division of Juvenile Justice, said Thursday he will focus his campaign on the economy, particularly job creation and cutting regulations of private businesses.

Smith said the fact that young people are leaving New Hampshire at a “alarming rate” not only hurts the economy but also is increasing the cost of health care.

He blamed regulations and “mandates” for the state having only two health insurance carriers.

Although he has been a leading voice on the conservative side of social issues while heading Cornerstone, Smith said repeal of the state's same-sex marriage law will not be among his priorities.

Still, he said, if a repeal bill crossed his desk, as governor, he would sign it because he has “not changed my position.”

Smith said that his GOP gubernatorial primary race with Lamontagne “is going to be about who has the best vision for New Hampshire and the best solution as we move New Hampshire forward economically and in jobs creation. Our backgrounds are very different and our experiences are very different.”

Smith added, “We have all seen candidates who have good ideas but don't know how to implement those ideas.”

He said he was not “insinuating anything about Ovide,” nor would he try to make it a generational contest. Smith is 34 and is making his first bid for a statewide office, while Lamontagne is 54 and has run for the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate and is now making his second run for governor.

Lamontagne could not be reached for comment.

(The full Nov. 17 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, NOV. 17 GRANITE STATUS: HE'S IN. The official Republican field for the 2012 governor's election has doubled in size — from one to two.

Former Cornerstone Action Executive Director Kevin Smith, after thinking long and hard about it, has decided to run for governor.

“I'm in,” Smith said in an interview yesterday. “I'm definitely running.”

He has started a “Kevin Smith for New Hampshire” political action committee and will begin raising money and organizing a leadership team.

KevinSmithforGovernor.com is online this morning.

Smith, who said he'll wait to make a formal announcement until after the presidential primary, joins Republican Ovide Lamontagne and Democrat Maggie Hassan in officially bidding to succeed outgoing Gov. John Lynch.

He plans a conference call with reporters today to talk more about it.

The 34-year-old husband and father of three, who grew up in Londonderry and lives in Litchfield, is known for having grown Cornerstone Action into the state's leading conservative advocacy group.

He noted that during his three years in the post, he broadened Cornerstone's scope from a social issues group to a “full spectrum conservative organization that got involved in a lot of the fiscal issues.”

Smith said his background as a liaison in former Gov. Craig Benson's office and as an assistant director of the state Division of Juvenile Justice, where he headed finance and quality assurance functions and developed a “taxpayer report card,” gives him a strong background in management.

He was elected to the House at 19, serving on the Judiciary and Family Law Committee.

With the theme of “Bold New Leadership,” Smith said the focus of his campaign will be on reforming state government and job creation.

“Any candidate who doesn't understand that this campaign needs to be about jobs creation for New Hampshire is missing the boat entirely, and that's what I'm going to be talking about,” he said.

Smith said too many employers have migrated out of the state, chased by the state's “over-regulation” and what he views as an unfriendly business tax climate.

“We have some of the highest business taxes in the country, particularly the Business Enterprise Tax,” he said. “It either needs to be reformed or eliminated. It is so foolish to be taxing businesses that are not making a profit. We're taxing them on their labor. It is entirely unfair.”

And as expected, Smith said, “Unequivocally, there will be no broadbase tax if I'm elected governor,” he said. He also opposes expanded gambling.

Smith said his goal is to be “Deval Patrick's worst nightmare” by keeping Granite Staters, including college graduates, at home to pursue careers and by personally “poaching jobs” from Massachusetts.

“We're second in the country per capita in number of people who drive out of state to go work,” he said. “First, we need to improve the climate. We need to convince (out-of-state business owners) why they need to move to this state.”

Chairing Smith's PAC is former Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron of Keene. The treasurer is a former professional track and field athlete John Mortimer of New London, who heads a private athletic event development firm.

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THE OBAMA CHALLENGE. When President Barack Obama comes to Manchester next week to talk about jobs, he'll finally get a chance to respond to the constant pounding he has taken from the GOP presidential candidates for the past year or more.

Obama, who won the state's four electoral votes in November 2008 by 54 to 45 percent, was viewed favorably by 66 percent of Granite Staters a month after taking office, according to the WMUR Granite State polling completed by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

The favorable number has been on a path downward ever since, and last month, his approval rating was at 41 percent.

Most disturbing for supporters of the President, his approval rating among independents has slipped to 35 percent.

But supporters say it's all simply a product of the GOP attacks. The feeling is that once the Republicans have a nominee, his or her record will be fair game and things will change.

Obama supporters say the general election race will pit a President who wants to help the middle class against a Republican who cares more about the Wall Street and the wealthy.

The Obama campaign continues to build what one Democrat called “infrastructure.”

In addition to the a Concord office, a second site opened in Portsmouth recently and a Manchester office will be in operation in a few weeks.

According to the campaign, there have been 1,000 organizing events in the state since Obama announced the re-election campaign in April.

This week, the focus is on women-to-women phone banks and house parties in Manchester, Concord, Nashua and Portsmouth following the Monday launch of Women for Obama by First Lady Michelle Obama.

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MITT STAYS AHEAD. While it's true that the Republicans have been attacking Obama throughout 2011, the fact is, the Democrats, especially in New Hampshire, have been giving Mitt Romney the same treatment daily, if not hourly.

The latest will come this morning in a New Hampshire Democratic Party “memorandum” to “interested parties” accusing Romney of favoring the wealthy, ignoring those with student loan debt, gutting home heating assistance, and eliminating funding for Amtrak.

Still, Romney has consistently led Obama in Granite State general election matchups. That continued yesterday in a New Hampshire poll by Selzer and Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, for Bloomberg News.

It showed Romney leading Obama 50 to 40 percent in a survey of 500 likely Granite State general election voters.

The poll also showed Obama's New Hampshire job-approval rating at 40 percent with 53 percent disapproving.

In a survey of the GOP field by the same pollster for Bloomberg, 504 likely primary voters chose Romney over Ron Paul, 40 to 17 percent, with Newt Gingrich at 11 percent, Herman Cain at 8 percent, Jon Huntsman at 7 percent, Rick Perry at 3 percent, Michele Bachmann at 2 percent and Rick Santorum at 1 percent.

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THE CAIN INTERVIEW. A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel video of Cain struggling to answer a question about Obama's and his own policies on Libya went viral early Tuesday.

A few hours later, Cain's campaign told the New Hampshire Union Leader it wanted no videotaping of his interview, scheduled for this morning, with New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher Joseph McQuaid, editorial page director Andrew Cline and this reporter.

C-SPAN videotaped and broadcast on its network and website our recent interviews with Romney, Perry and Santorum.

Was the Cain “no-video” demand related to the Milwaukee paper's video, which the Cain campaign suggested was presented “out of context in some measure” (a charge the Journal-Sentinel's editor strongly denied)? Or was it just a coincidence?

We may never know.

His national communications director did not return our call yesterday seeking a simple explanation of why they didn't want C-SPAN in the room.

And as of late yesterday, it was very much up in the air whether the scheduled 60-minute interview was going to take place at all.

The only public event on Cain's schedule today is a rally at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua.

But State House Bureau Chief Tom Fahey reports that Cain also plans to visit Secretary of State Bill Gardner at his office.

Cain filed his candidacy in the first-in-the-nation primary through a representative. But Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said Cain's campaign told the office Cain will sign a Notice to Voters poster that other primary candidates signed when filing their candidacy.

The poster will later be reproduced in the biennial Manual for the General Court, known as the “Red Book.”

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ADDING STAFF. Gingrich's presidential campaign in New Hampshire has added a fifth paid staffer in Sarah Joseph, a businesswoman from Bristol, who will be director of scheduling and logistics.

The campaign says Joseph managed a family business for the past three years and as a result “knows first-hand the impact that governmental over-regulation is having on small businesses throughout the country.”

Joseph is the sister-in-law of Gingrich New Hampshire campaign director Andrew Hemingway.

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NEWT HAMPSHIRE. With Gingrich scheduled to return to the state on Monday, his New Hampshire campaign yesterday launched NewtHampshire.com, a place for supporters to sign up to volunteer or make donations.

Hemingway said “Newt Hampshire” T-shirts and bumper stickers are on the way.

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HIS 100TH EVENT. Huntsman held what his campaign said was his 100th event in New Hampshire Tuesday, speaking to about 100 voters at the Elks Lodge in Portsmouth.

Huntsman laid out his economic and foreign policy priorities.

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SANTORUM, PAUL ENDORSEMENTS. Santorum has picked up the endorsements of a prominent pro-life leader and three New Hampshire House members.

Dan Hogan of Nashua is a trustee of New Hampshire Right-to-Life and president of the Education Resource Institute, an abstinence-based group. He is also a member of the Nashua Republican Committee.

Santorum is also being backed by Republican state Reps. Gary Hopper of Weare, H. Bart Hardwick of Francestown and Kirsten Schultz of Somersworth, bringing his total of House endorsements to 17.

Santorum will further accelerate the pace of his New Hampshire campaigning the day after Thanksgiving. He is scheduled to return to the state on Friday, Nov. 25, and remain through Monday, Nov. 28.

The tentative schedule calls for stops in all 10 counties and includes six town halls.

Meanwhile yesterday, Paul increased the number of his House endorsements to 22 with the addition of Republican Reps. Guy Comtois of Center Barnstead, Seth Cohn of Canterbury and Jonathan Maltz of Hudson.

Paul returns on Monday for a town hall meeting at Keene State College. He has scheduled Tuesday stops at Enviro-Tote in Bedford, which makes “environmentally friendly” promotional tote bags, and a small business coalition roll-out at The Draft pub in Concord, owned by supporter and state Sen. Andy Sanborn.

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THE VIRTUAL THIRD-PARTY PRIMARY. Who needs town halls, meet-and-greets and door-to-door campaigning when a primary can be conducted on the Internet?

A group called Americans Elect has raised $21 million from undisclosed donors and has begun an online primary to nominate a third-party candidate.

Organizers say they will try to get the winner on the general election ballots in all states next year.

A volunteer adviser for the group is Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

“I don't know if it's going to be big or little, but it's going to happen,” McKinnon said at the Harvard Institute of Politics last week, according to the Boston Globe.

The Charlotte (S.C.) Observer says candidates can begin signing up or be “drafted” for the online primary starting in December. In April, several votes will cut the field to six. In June, a virtual convention will choose a candidate and running mate.

The goal, supporters say, is to give all Americans, not just those in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, a voice in selecting a nominee.

One of the top “potential” third-party candidates listed on the Americans Elect website, is former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer.

But Roemer told the Union Leader this week that while he is aware of the Americans Elect effort, he won't participate. He says he is a Republican, albeit a very discouraged one, having been blocked from ballots in some states and denied participation in debates.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News.

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