Originally Published in Concord Monitor by Charlotte Matherly.
In the first interview of his U.S. Senate campaign four years ago, Kevin Smith remembers mentioning compromise. The Republican from Londonderry, a former town manager and state representative, posited that voters would want to see lawmakers find common ground on the issues that matter most.
A consultant immediately pulled him aside and told him never to use the word “compromise” again — that it wasn’t what people wanted to hear.
“I thought, ‘Man, this is what is wrong in our politics today,’” Smith said. “The system is incredibly broken when that is, in fact, the case.”
The lesson he took away from that exchange is the reason he jumped aboard the New Hampshire Forum, a “civic infrastructure” project that seeks to bring people together from across the state and political spectrum to participate in the legislative process and discuss issues that matter to them in a safe, constructive environment.
“The reality is most people, like myself, they are exhausted with the polarization. They are exhausted with the performative politics. They’re exhausted with the divisiveness,” Smith said. “The extreme voices on both sides, they may be the loudest, but they’re not the majority.”
Smith will co-chair the effort alongside a Democratic counterpart, former state Sen. Donna Soucy of Manchester. New Hampshire is one of three states to launch the Forum, spearheaded by Andrew Shue, actor of 1990s hit “Melrose Place” fame and a Dartmouth College alumnus.
Granite Staters are known for their spirit of civic engagement. It’s on full display at town meeting each year and cultivates a testing ground for presidential hopefuls.
The lesson he took away from that exchange is the reason he jumped aboard the New Hampshire Forum, a “civic infrastructure” project that seeks to bring people together from across the state and political spectrum to participate in the legislative process and discuss issues that matter to them in a safe, constructive environment.
“The reality is most people, like myself, they are exhausted with the polarization. They are exhausted with the performative politics. They’re exhausted with the divisiveness,” Smith said. “The extreme voices on both sides, they may be the loudest, but they’re not the majority.”
Smith will co-chair the effort alongside a Democratic counterpart, former state Sen. Donna Soucy of Manchester. New Hampshire is one of three states to launch the Forum, spearheaded by Andrew Shue, actor of 1990s hit “Melrose Place” fame and a Dartmouth College alumnus.
Granite Staters are known for their spirit of civic engagement. It’s on full display at town meeting each year and cultivates a testing ground for presidential hopefuls.
Shue’s non-partisan nonprofit seeks to generate policy solutions from a wide swath of Granite Staters. The first step is a short online survey, which leaders said strips barriers to participation that exist in other public arenas, like traveling to Concord to testify on a bill during a workday.
The survey has already received 500 submissions toward its goal of 25,000. It’ll then select the ideas that receive more than 70% support for discussion at regional, in-person events.
The series will culminate in a “civic assembly” in Concord this fall, where Granite Staters will deliberate about and finalize a list of policy recommendations, which a group of lawmakers has committed to submit as bills in the 2027 legislative session.
The New Hampshire Forum is not the first to try and bridge political divides. Other organizations, like Braver Angels, also look to foster respectful dialogue and common ground.
Shue pitched his nonprofit as not just an effort to build trust but an attempt at building infrastructure, saying it’ll help people get involved in the legislative process. He led a similar project, New Hampshire Together, in 2024. The legislation it produced, which sought to create a single presidential primary ballot, died in committee last year.
