As other Dems balk, Hodes stakes Senate bid on health reform backing

If Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) invested too much in polls, he probably wouldn’t have run for Congress a second time in 2006, two years after he got swamped by 20 points.
 
And when it comes to healthcare, he’s bringing a similar philosophy to his campaign for the Senate.
 

With the healthcare bill polling like an electoral dud, Hodes has been more vocally supportive of the bill than any other major Democratic Senate candidate running in a swing state.
 
Hodes has been there through every step of the debate, even taking on Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who caucuses with Democrats, for “bailing out insurance companies and watering down the bill.”
 
That kind of rhetoric is unique to Hodes’s campaign, and he’s banking on it not only to rally the base, but also in the general election. While Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) has tacked left on the issue in his primary with Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Hodes faces no primary opposition.
 
“I have taken a pretty feisty approach to it,” Hodes said in an interview with The Hill. “I’ve made my support for healthcare reform clear, and I don’t see any reason to play defense.”
 
Even if Hodes can’t see the reason to play defense, plenty of other Democrats can. In a survey conducted by The Hill recently, many swing-state Democrats running for Senate expressed reservations about the bill and balked at supporting it.
 
That has much to do with how the issue is polling right now. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed just 32 percent of Americans favoring the current healthcare proposals in Congress, with 47 percent opposing them. A CNN poll conducted over the weekend showed support at 42 percent and opposition at 56 percent.
 
Such numbers led the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to send around a memo touting the damage the bill is doing to Democratic prospects in several states – though notably, the memo didn’t mention New Hampshire.
 
Hodes is aware of the polls, but he’s not letting them temper his enthusiasm for the bill.
 
“Doing what’s right is important,” Hodes said. “What’s much less important to the people I represent is trying to conform what I think is right to what the polls say is right.”
 
Even if Hodes’s support can be judged a wise political move, though, it’s hard to see the healthcare bill having too many effects prior the 2010 election. That’s part of the reason Democrats who don’t have to vote on the bill have taken cautious approaches to it.
 
Hodes suggested that, even if there is little tangible to run on, voters will reward him for a principled stand.
 
“Certainly fighting for what I believe in and fighting for the people I represent is what the people of New Hampshire expect from me,” he said.
 
For now, Hodes is enduring plenty of criticism from his Republican opponents, who are battling for the votes of conservatives in their primary.
 
At the same time, by standing firm in his support of the plan, he is taking the fight to the Republicans and defining the issue early.
 
Attorney Ovide Lamontagne (R) recently penned an op-ed in the New Hampshire Union-Leader responding to a Hodes op-ed on healthcare reform. Hodes’s campaign responded to the op-ed before Lamontagne’s camp even sent a copy around to reporters.
 
Hodes has also hit Lamontagne and former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) for supporting association health plans, pointing out that Ayotte opposed them as late as 2006. Even as its other candidates have been more timid, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has praised Hodes for his head-on approach.
 
But even as he has set the tone early, Hodes suggested beating back GOP attacks on the issue is a tough slog.
 
“I’ve spent an awful lot of time explaining the proposals to my constituents,” Hodes said. “It’s certainly been an interesting time in terms of people’s concerns and fears and the disinformation that the opposition and the other party have sewed. They have used fear of change to hijack the dialogue.”
 
Ayotte has led Hodes by single digits in most early polling on the race, and Hodes has underwhelmed with his early fundraising hauls. But regardless, both Democrats and Republicans are counting on a pitched battle in the Granite State.
 
Adding to the GOP’s challenge is the lingering primary between Ayotte, the establishment favorite, and Lamontagne, who won the party’s nomination for governor in the mid-1990s. Lamontagne has proven appeal in the primary process and a conservative record that could draw Ayotte to the right.

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