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Brother Reid, can you spare a dime?
After a disappointing first fundraising quarter as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes (NH-02) is turning to embattled Senate Majority leader Harry Reid for fundraising help. Reid will headline a June 3rd Hodes fundraiser in Washington, D.C., the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call is reporting.
Hodes is the only announced candidate from either party vying for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat being vacated by Judd Gregg.
Sen. Reid himself is up for re-election in 2010. A recent poll shows him to be viewed as unpopular by most voters in Nevada, his home state. A poll released earlier this month by Mason-Dixon for the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows that fully half of all Nevadans have an unfavorable view of Reid while only thirty-eight percent have a favorable view of him.
Still, Reid holds the reins of power in the U.S. Senate and by headlining the event he sends a clear signal to lobbyists in Washington that Hodes is the Democratic Party’s choice to fill Gregg’s seat.
Fred Tausch, the founder of the government watchdog group STEWARD of Prosperity, was unimpressed.
“The same old fundraising game being played by Rep. Paul Hodes and Sen. Harry Reid is a clear example of what is wrong with our system,” Tausch said. “We don’t need the power elite in Washington, DC deciding who our next Senator should be. We don’t need out-of-state special interest money influencing the process.”
NH GOP Communications Director Ryan Williams also took exception to the Beltway attention being ladled on the Senate race.
“It’s not surprising that a political insider like Paul Hodes would turn to Harry Reid and the Washington political establishment to help boost his floundering Senate bid,” said Williams. “At a time when New Hampshire families are struggling to make ends meet Paul Hodes should be working to fix our economic crisis instead of focusing on his self-serving political ambitions.”
I suppose, though, if Hodes is at some party with Harry Reid, that means they won’t be raising taxes, spending money we don’t have, or dissing the troops and their mission— at least for a few hours. Every cloud has it’s silver lining…