MANCHESTER, N.H.—Thousands of copies of Cornerstone’s Families First General Election Voter Guide are presently arming New Hampshire voters with the information they’ll need to support conservative candidates who will be dedicated to protecting traditional values and the natural rights of families once they are elected into office.
Cornerstone mailed and e-mailed information about its Families First General Election Voter Guide to thousands of Cornerstone supporters in New Hampshire all throughout last week, and the guide is now available to everyone on Cornerstone’s Web site as a digital file or as a printed document upon request.
“With so many candidates running for office in new voting districts this election cycle, voters have welcomed Cornerstone’s general election voter guide as refreshingly helpful as they consider how to cast their votes on Election Day,” said Shannon McGinley, Cornerstone’s acting executive director. “It can sometimes be very difficult to track down all the conservatives who will always put traditional family values first upon their election, and our guide attempts to make that task easier for voters.”
The guide includes key positions on issues important to families for each of the Republican and Democratic candidates for president, congressman and governor as well as an account of whether state representative, state senator and executive councilor candidates have signed Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge, regardless of party. Additionally, the guide listsCornerstone 2011-2012 Legislative Scorecard voting percentages for all incumbent legislative candidates to show how closely they aligned with Cornerstone’s agenda in the last term. It also features a section that helps voters identify their voting districts.
“We’re confident that voters will identify the top-scoring incumbents and Families First Pledge signers in their districts and enthusiastically head to the polls to make sure the next Legislature and the governor can work together to advance the successes of the past two years,” McGinley said. “We’ve added information about national candidates’ positions to help voters ensure our next congressional delegation and president also keep the interests of New Hampshire families in mind.”
Pledge signers indicated on the voter guide have promised to support bills or initiatives that advance citizens’ rights of conscience and religion, protect innocent human life, defend the natural family and traditional marriage, restore the natural rights of parents to raise, educate and care for their own children, and enact free market economic policies to ensure prosperity in New Hampshire. Since releasing its Families First Pledge in July, more than 125 candidates for offices at all levels have signed the pledge. Cornerstone intends to work with the pledge signers who win their elections during the next two years and expects these officials to support the initiatives listed in Cornerstone’s Families First Legislative Agenda, which is based on the pledge.
Cornerstone’s Families First General Election Voter Guide is a follow-up guide to its 2012 Primary Voter Guide, but it is far more comprehensive in that it includes federal candidates as well as candidates from both major political parties as well as undeclared candidates. The primary guide listed only Republicans running for state offices, because only Republican candidates had signed Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge at the time. As of today, there still hasn’t been a Democratic candidate willing to sign Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge; however, at least one undeclared candidate has signed the pledge. Because Cornerstone is a nonpartisan organization, the General Election Voter Guide lists candidates regardless of political party and provides the information voters will need to determine whether each candidate supports Cornerstone’s policy goals or not.
“It is extraordinarily disappointing that not one Democrat was courageous enough to sign our pledge and stand against the radically liberal social agenda that dominates the Democratic Party,” McGinley said. “We hope pro-family Democrats will increasingly become appalled by the message of some of their more liberal colleagues and work to drive their party closer to the more moderate center in the future, which traditionally supports family values.
“Similarly, it is disappointing that so many Republicans ignored our Families First Pledge,” McGinley added. “We hope that the same radicals who are leading the Democrats do not take hold in the Republican Party. Everyone should know that traditional families are the very foundation of society, and without strong supports to protect family values, society will fall apart.”