Harris Campaign Press Release - Granite State Activist Dean Barker Endorses Senator Kamala Harris

Dean Barker, Founder of "Blue Hampshire" and Chair of Andover School Board, Throwing Support Behind Harris

Dean Barker, a major New Hampshire activist, founder of the nationally-recognized Blue Hampshire blog, and chair of the Andover School Board is endorsing Senator Kamala Harris.

In his endorsement, Barker writes that Harris is "uniquely suited to this job at this moment," citing her experience as a prosecutor, "Who better to take this challenge head on than a former prosecutor, state attorney general and current United States senator...Kamala Harris knows how to prosecute the case against this president, because she has gone after the corrupt and the powerful before, and as president she will have the experience to return to the American people the faith and confidence we expect in our principles of justice."

He also praises her Medicare for All policy, saying it would "immediately provide coverage for anyone who wants it while at the same time including a transition period for those individuals, families, and employers needing time to evolve from their current plans. That she has found a way to do this without raising taxes on the poor and middle class shows that she understands in practical terms the pressures working families face."

He cites the strong enthusiasm for her candidacy in New Hampshire, saying "A house party in the central, rural part of the state, in the middle of summer, generated hundreds of attendees, to name just one example."

He concludes his endorsement by writing, "When I take the bird's eye view over the race, the candidates, and the unique challenge before us, one woman stands out as having the right mix of toughness, intelligence, experience, decency, and joyful promise to wage the strongest general election campaign and move our country forward to better times: Kamala Harris."

Full Text of Barker's Endorsement (announced via Twitter):

Rule of Law, Restoration, and Renewal:

Why I'm Voting for Kamala Harris

Living in the first-in-the-nation primary state, we have a responsibility to learn about presidential candidates early and up close, and to make a decision that will best help that candidate keep moving through the nomination process.

This time around, that responsibility feels overwhelming. When the next president takes the oath of office, she'll be overseeing a multi-layered national crisis left by her predecessor. She'll need the toughness and experience of a Hillary Clinton to tackle this crisis, and the intelligence and optimism of a Barack Obama to rally the country behind this monumental task. Out of the many excellent candidates running, the woman to me who is uniquely suited to this job at this moment is the "joyful warrior" Kamala Harris.

Rule of Law

Whether it's welcoming Russian interference into our elections, obstructing justice, enriching private businesses with public dollars, turning the Department of Justice into a personal defense firm, stacking the federal courts with ideologues, cozying up to anti-democratic authoritarians abroad, or a host of other ills, the common thread to so much emanating from this presidency is lack of respect for the rule of law. Who better to take this challenge head on than a former prosecutor, state attorney general and current United States senator who has quickly made a name for herself brilliantly cross-examining members of this administration? Kamala Harris knows how to prosecute the case against this president, because she has gone after the corrupt and the powerful before, and as president she will have the experience to return to the American people the faith and confidence we expect in our principles of justice.

Restoration

Once the cloud of corruption has been lifted from this White House, the hard work of restoring policy goals that reflect the will of the people begins. Kamala Harris, more than the other candidates in my view, has been able to marry long-term, bold progressive goals to the realm of the near-term possible. An example of this is her Medicare for All plan, which would immediately provide coverage for anyone who wants it while at the same time including a transition period for those individuals, families, and employers needing time to evolve from their current plans. That she has found a way to do this without raising taxes on the poor and middle class shows that she understands in practical terms the pressures working families face, and in political terms how to rally the general population behind good policy. Other areas where Harris has her finger on the pulse of popular will is the leadership she has shown to go strong and bold on common sense gun reform, addressing the climate crisis head-on, and her agenda for lifting up teachers and education.

A discussion on restoration can't avoid one obvious open wound, that the first woman major party presidential nominee earned nearly three million more votes than the man who became president, a staggering injustice. After forty-five men, and especially as we approach the century mark since the passage of women's suffrage, it is long past time to have a commander-in-chief who comes from the other half of our population. The time is now to right the wrong of 2016.

Renewal

Out of this abnormal time must come a national renewal. It is hard to overestimate the positive impact on women and people of color, on the future of the nation, in a larger sense, to have a person such as Kamala Harris holding the highest office in the land. On a more selfish note, as I approach my fifth decade in life, it is such a welcome sight to see, unlike the president and the other Democratic frontrunners, someone of my own generation finally with a chance to lead the country. Like Kamala, I was also raised by a single working mom. As with her, the memory of those challenges to make ends meet informs my own thinking about the needs of working families today.

National renewal will also require a comprehensive rejection of the xenophobia and nativism that, encouraged and legitimized by this White House, has darkened our landscape these past few years, a landscape that has seen a turning away from our traditional allies abroad and toward authoritarian regimes, young children forcibly separated from asylum seeking parents, and a massacre inspired by the ideology of white supremacy. The moral clarity I see from Kamala Harris in this area, the conscious reminders she brings of our shared values, inspires.

Coming back to New Hampshire, I don't want to leave out the personal reactions I have seen to her when she's been to our state. Despite her toughness, she is warm and relatable to Democrats and independent voters. Her events are joyful!

The Granite State can feel at times as culturally as far away Kamala's state of California as it is geographically, and yet, even with neighboring frontrunner candidates to the west and south of us, it is remarkable how much interest and enthusiasm she generates. A house party in the central, rural part of the state, in the middle of summer, generated hundreds of attendees, to name just one example.

This isn't a normal political cycle and we are not in normal political times. The re-election of the current president will mean closing the door on the country many of us were raised in and recognize, the era built by the sacrifices made in World War II and symbolized by our Statue of Liberty, because that re-election will legitimize our new and radical status as an illiberal, transactional government abroad and a nationalist one at home. The country cannot afford to lose this test without also losing its identity. That is why, when I take the bird's eye view over the race, the candidates, and the unique challenge before us, one woman stands out as having the right mix of toughness, intelligence, experience, decency, and joyful promise to wage the strongest general election campaign and move our country forward to better times: Kamala Harris.