By Michael Ryan – October 14, 2011

A crowd of nearly 200 people came out to Saint Anselm College on Oct. 13 for a discussion on the current fiscal crisis as well as the electoral system and New Hampshire's status as "first in the nation."

The event took place at the N.H. Institute of Politics. Six panelists facilitated the conversation which came before appearances from presidential candidates Buddy Roemer, Fred Karger and Jon Huntsman.

One of those panelists was Corey Lewandowski, who serves as the N.H. State Director of Americans for Prosperity. He criticized what he called the "increasing notion" that a candidate's money is respected more than a candidate's ideas during election time.
Lewandowski also discussed the potentially disastrous problems that Washington is facing.

"I find it impossible to fathom that we can't go out and cut enough money from all of the things that are taking place out there that we can't keep our government afloat," said Lewandowski. "If that is truly what the problem is then this is not a Republican or Democrat problem, this is a fiscal crisis of epic proportion that will see the demise of our country if we continue down this path."

The other five panelists involved in the forum were Robert Bixby, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition; Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.), former member of Congress, Vice President of the Aspen Institute; John Fortier, Director of the Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center and Counsel to McCain for President in 2000 and 2008; David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General and co-founder of No Labels.