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 Sex, Lies, and YouTube
New charges – this time with the help of YouTube – mean NH Democratic State Committee Vice Chair Ray Buckley’s prospects to sit in the big seat are once again uncertain.
Two days ago, a 6-minute montage of old video clips was posted to YouTube by former Manchester Republican chairman, Joe Kelley Levasseur. It shows Buckley in Amsterdam asking the camera in his best Theo Van Gogh impersonation, “Do you want me to f*** you hard?” and suggesting that Hitler should have bombed The Hague. Another scene has him pulling his fly down at the kitchen table. These are all jokes, of course and, it should be noted, were taped by Buckley's original accuser and former roommate, Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester) himself. As of Sunday morning, the video had been viewed 2,681 times. Not exactly “Dick in a Box” numbers, but enough to make trouble.
US Rep Paul Hodes has withdrawn his support from Buckley, US Rep Carol Shea-Porter is hedging hers, and at least one county chair has said Buckley should withdraw from the race -- yet again. Buckley dropped out of the chairman’s race last January after Vaillancourt’s accusations of kiddie porn possession. He re-entered the fray last week when he was cleared of the charges by a Manchester police investigation. Buckley says he’s hanging tight this time, and will not be be run off again by "the politics of personal destruction.” It's all gotten far more complicated than these things should be
The most damning evidence against Buckley is that he’s also a member of a MySpace page called “Gays in NH” which has 93 members (and I use that term advisedly), at least two of who are 16-years old. Not a crime, as the video points out, but bad form for a guy who wants to run the Democratic Party in the first-in-the-nation primary state. It’s not a gay thing – if a straight politician belonged to a sexually-oriented MySpace forum that included 16-year old girls, it would be no small issue.
Adding to the problem are a series of links that start at the NH Dem’s official webpage, to the Young Dems of NH page, to the their MYSpace friends, to Buckley’s MySpace page where he’s virtually dallying with the club kids. The Young Dems page has been taken down, presumably until the link can be deleted, but too late.
Ray Buckley has been a friend of mine for thirty years, and I’ve seen him do a few dumb things during that time – such as work for Joe Lieberman’s presidential campaign in 2004, and much worse, taking $100K for public relations chores he performed for Slobodon Milsovic at the Dayton Accords in 1996.
The election is next Saturday. If NH Democrats need a reason not to vote Buckley in as chair, either of those ought to be enough. Comments?
~Jack McEnany
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