Thank you Mr. Cullen for participating in NHInsider.com’s 10 Questions feature.

NHI: What role do you see the Internet and New Media playing in the future of the NH GOP?

FC: A bigger one. Internet communications are growing in importance every day, but they have yet to replace more traditional forms of communication, and it’s easy to overstate the impact new media has. Even NHInsider, with respect, is something of an echo chamber, with more anonymous name calling than insightful posts. I wish fewer people would post anonymously, and more would display a greater degree of civility.

NHI: To what do you attribute the recent trouncing Republicans saw at the ballots during the Mid-term and State elections this past November?

FC: The NH Democrats beat us at every facet of winning campaigns: candidate recruitment, fundraising, messaging and communication, ground game and GOTV. They did a great job at the those factors within their ability to control, and put their candidates in a position to capitalize on events outside their ability to control that also worked in their favor, specifically discontent about the situation in Iraq that grew as the election approached. Congrats to the Dems; I have to give credit where credit is due. But here’s what the election results were not: It was not a defeat of lasting conservative principles. It was not an ideological defeat. It was a temporary Republican defeat. There’s a difference.

NHI: How do you propose the GOP gain back their majority status? Can it be done in one two-year cycle or will it take more than one election cycle to recover some of the lost voters?

FC: To borrow a metaphor someone wiser than me came up with, there’s a difference between a political tsunami and a political earthquake. A tsunami recedes, but an earthquake changes the landscape, permanently. What happened last fall was a tsunami, but demographic changes in New Hampshire have been a slow-motion earthquake taking place over years. Republicans need to understand that we are not living in the same state, politically, that we lived in as recently as ten years ago. But I reject the idea that NH has become a Democrat state. If that is so, why are just 26% of registered voters proud enough of the Democrat party to register with them? That percentage has actually dropped from 30% ten years ago.

NHI: When you have a free weekend, where in NH is your favorite place to visit and why?

FC: Standing alongside any cross country running race course or track coaching high school athletes, if I’m not competing myself. If you think I’m passionate about politics, you haven’t seen me working with young people. More broadly: Distance running on trails or hiking in the White Mountains. I’ve hiked the AT across NH, from Hanover to Gorham, have run up Mt. Washington seven times (best time: 1:06), and am a member of the 4,000 footer club, having climbed all 48 such peaks at least once. That’s nothing compared to my mom, who’s in her upper 60s and is working on her seventh lap of the 48 high peaks.

NHI: What role do you envision the NH GOP playing in the upcoming 2008 Presidential primaries?

FC: The party’s role is to be a good host to candidates and provide them with a level playing field where all candidates are given the opportunity to tell their stories and a fair chance to earn support. Let me go a step further. If I’m Republican chairman, I will not attack any of the Democrats who come to campaign here. I might make fun of them if they give me the opportunity, and if they attack the President or Senators Gregg or Sununu it will be my duty to defend. But I will not attack Democrat presidential candidates campaigning here in the primary. The First in the Nation primary is bigger than any one party or any one election in terms of its importance to New Hampshire to issue gratuitous attacks to score a short term political point at the expense of preserving the primary.

NHI: How do you propose getting new people involved with the party including getting them to run for various government offices?

FC: Having a fresh, younger face leading the party wouldn’t hurt. More broadly: The presidential primary is a unique opportunity for us to bring new people into the party. Someone who gets excited about a presidential candidate and becomes an activist for the first time needs a home after the presidential primary circus leaves town, and I want them to stay on as activists in our party. I’m sure the Dems see the same thing on their side.

NHI: Why are you the most qualified candidate for the NH GOP Chair position?

FC: Anyone who’s read my columns in the New Hampshire Union Leader over the past couple years knows I’ve been a conservative voice on issues facing New Hampshire, and have demonstrated that I can advocate and articulate a conservative position on issues in an artful and persuasive manner. Communications is a big part of the job.

NHI: The pundits have said that the Congressional candidates won because of their ‘Grassroots’ campaigns, what would you propose the NH GOP do to awaken their base?

FC: We’re pretty awake right now, thanks. Hard to sleep through the din following the last election. I know my fellow candidates for chairman have noticed the same thing I have: Large crowds at county and city committee meetings and a focus on taking the steps needed to return the party to majority status. The Dems probably had the same feeling at a time four years ago: beaten, but hardly demoralized.

NHI: With the new Minority Party status of the GOP in NH, how does this change the daily operation of the party?

FC: The party is really like a new business start-up in terms of where we are and how we move forward. We have a lot of block & tackle basics to take care of in terms of reestablishing the grassroots organization that atrophied over the past several years. Being in the minority focuses the mind real quick.

NHI: Due to some unfortunate incidents and management the NH GOP finds itself basically broke, what do you propose doing to change that situation?

FC: I don’t claim any special fundraising prowess, but I have the skills needed to raise the money it takes to keep the party going. A big part of that is a willingness to handcuff myself to the phone for hours at a time. A key task is to get Republican donors who have shied away from the party in recent years to feel confident again about our direction. We start to do this by showing progress in basic areas like organization and more effective communications. When donors see us moving back onto the right track, I think they will start to reinvest in the party again.