Bass files for re-election, setting up a rematch with Kuster

CONCORD – Congressman Charles Bass said Monday that jobs is the top issue but getting the federal deficit and debt under control are essential to American’s financial health. Bass, a Republican, officially filed for re-election Monday casting himself as an independent voice who challenged Democratic and Republican leaders to adopt a federal budget that cut spending and future deficits. The bipartisan plan Bass co-wrote with five other members of Congress got only 38 votes. “The time has come for us to stop fighting and start solving,” said Bass, a Peterborough resident. A few dozen supporters joined Bass for his trip to Secretary of State Bill Gardner’s office; they included Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford and Executive Councilor Dan St. Hilaire, R-Concord. “Americans are crying out for independent leadership,” Bass said. Democratic candidate Ann McLane Kuster of Hopkinton kicked off her 2012 campaign last week attacking Bass as a captive of an extreme, right-wing agenda. “Annie Kuster’s campaign is basically the 2010 campaign,” Bass said. Later, he added, “I think things have changed a bit in the past two years.” Kuster will make “distractions and distortions,” Bass claimed. This is widely regarded as one of the most competitive races for a seat in Congress this fall. The Kuster campaign criticized Bass on Monday for opposing a Democratic amendment in the House to cut taxpayer-paid mailings last week. “We must cut spending and Congress should start with itself,” Garrick Delzell, Kuster’s campaign manager, said in a statement. In 2010, Bass beat Kuster for the 2nd Congressional District by less than 2 percent of the vote. He seeks an eighth term in the House. Bass served for 12 straight years until Democrat Paul Hodes beat him in 2006. Bass returned to elective politics two years ago when Hodes left the House and ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat. Bass said he’s pessimistic that Congress and President Barack Obama will get together on a bipartisan plan to reduce the debt and deficit before the end of the year when automatic budget cuts would kick in. But Bass maintained voters are focused on this and ready to elect leaders who will forge bipartisan compromise. “The conversation has changed in Washington,” Bass said.