MANCHESTER, NH — Last week 18 New Hampshire activists gathered to deliver petitions to Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s Manchester office, demanding that Ayotte “stop putting politics over the Constitution” and instead give fair consideration to President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
The demonstration — part of a “day of action” among 30 demonstrations — across the country, included activists from People For the American Way, Organizing For Action (OFA), Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), MoveOn.org Civic Action, UltraViolet Action, Color of Change, Daily Kos, Demand Progress, People For the American Way, Common Cause, NextGen Climate, CREDO Action, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Donna Edwards, and Every Voice Action.
Activists also collected signatures delivered over 95,000 petitions from New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Iowa – a sampling of the 1.5 million signatures gathered nationally.
“Ayotte has said that the American people should have a chance to have their voices heard on this issue,” said Lindsay Jakows, New Hampshire Campaign Organizer with People For the American Way. “However, they did just that when they elected President Obama in 2012, and they’re doing that now—nearly 6 in 10 Granite Staters want Ayotte to give fair consideration to a nominee. It’s time for her to fulfill her responsibility to Granite Staters and do her job.”
“It seems to me that this is an issue many NH voters will remember in November,” said retired former Navy veteran-turned-Veteran For Peace Will Thomas. “Personally, when I enlisted to join the Navy, I took an oath to support, uphold, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. By her blatant and shameless disregard for her oath to uphold the Constitution, she reveals her arrogance and hypocrisy. As some of our signs said, ‘Do Your Job!’”
In a February 19 Op/Ed posted on her officials site, Ayotte accused Democrats of playing politics.
“I believe strongly that the people of New Hampshire must have a say in this extraordinarily important debate. With so much on the line for the future of our country, the Senate should not proceed with a confirmation process until the American people have spoken by electing a new president in November,” wrote Ayotte. “Unfortunately, we are already seeing Democrats use this vacancy to try to score political points.”
You can read Ayotte’s full editorial here.
People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.
