CONCORD – “Today’s press conference by New Hampshire Democrats reminds me of the closing scene from ‘The Wizard of Oz:’ Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” said Fergus Cullen, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

“The Democrats are unified only if one ignores the fact that they don’t have a nominee and are engaged is a brutal political civil war between the left and the far left with no end in sight,” Cullen said.

“This press conference is a sign that a certain level of panic is setting in among Democrats, a fear that they are in the process of snatching defeat from what they hoped were the jaws of victory. It’s no coincidence that today’s event comes just two days after a UNH poll shows Senator McCain defeating both Senator Clinton (47-43 percent) and Barack Obama (49-43 percent) in New Hampshire.

“The poll also shows McCain defeating Obama by a staggering 61-27 percent among independents, and topping Clinton by 53-30 among the same group. McCain also wins a healthy chunk of Democrats against either candidate,” Cullen said.

“In John McCain, not only do New Hampshire Republicans get our best candidate, but we also get the one Republican New Hampshire Democrats least wanted to face. Today’s press conference proves that once again,” Cullen said.

CONCORD – Today Governor John Lynch went before the House Finance Committee and proposed new ways to raise revenue to close the budget deficit, including raising taxes on tobacco, introducing a new tax on poker winnings, and imposing additional costs on businesses that sell alcohol.

“Governor Lynch has a spending problem not a revenue problem,” said Fergus Cullen, Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. “The Lynch budget deficit was created by Lynch and the Democratic leadership increasing spending by 17.5%, not declining revenues or the national economy.”

“Had Governor Lynch shown some political courage and leadership last year by reigning in spending, we would not be in this mess. Though given his record of tax increases, it’s no surprise he’s passing the costs of his runaway spending along to New Hampshire taxpayers and businesses.”

Today’s increases come on top of previous Lynch tax hikes, including raising highway tolls twice (with more increases on the way), raising tobacco taxes twice previously, and increasing the fee on car registrations.

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