[Eric Finn]

Alright, perhaps this could use some clarification.

Governor Lynch specifically said when asked by a reporter that the government would not fund FIRST programs, but rather that he would get corporations to donate money and mentors. That is why Walt Havenstein and a high-ranking (it was a while ago, so I can't remember exactly his position or name) member of the New Hampshire High Tech Council were both there to announce their support of this proposal.

I do remember seeing a video crew there, so I'll try to see if I can find a video of the announcement, hopefully with all the other people there. (Somebody else might have better luck than me on this - First page of Google and YouTube results turned up nothing for me)

To whoever said something about quantity over quality - Dean Kamen, Walt, and the guy from the NHHTC (but especially Dean Kamen) talked about how necessary mentors were. Dean Kamen talked for quite a while (surprise, surprise!) about how necessary good mentors were to FRC, even saying something along the lines of having a FRC team at a school without good mentors was essentially pointless.

Anyways, it does seem that more people than just John Lynch are committed to having a FIRST program in each school. Even if this is just part of a campaign, BAE and the NHHTC aren't running for office.

Besides, government support is not required for a school to have a FIRST team.