One would think Congresswoman Annie Kuster would have learned from her recent campaign the importance of rapid response, especially when it comes to political liability.
Once word broke on WMUR-TV that Kuster had a three-year practice of being late on paying her local property taxes, the damage-control campaign should have swung into action.
The first-term Democrat’s silence on the matter but for a brief, vague statement that offers no explanation for the behavior only allowed her detractors to own the story with strong condemnation over the last several days.
Trust me, this vitriol from her opposition won’t subside, and every action she takes in her office will be seen through this prism until she offers the reasons why it occurred.
Perhaps as startling is there has been no concerted attempt to come to her defense from Democratic Party leaders.
None of them pointed out some of the obvious facts to consider – namely, that a large number of homeowners in every city or town pay their taxes late, and at no time was Kuster in default of her taxes by having a lien placed against either her home in Hopkinton or her vacation property in Jackson.
The lesson from the campaign is obvious: her past support for a state income tax.
Even though Kuster knew that her past association with a pro-income tax political action committee was her Achilles’ heel as a favored challenger in this race, she failed to address it during the first six months of her 2012 campaign.
Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Charles Bass’ team unveiled what were some of the best TV ads of the cycle, showing a “Dancing Annie” trying to tap her way from her past as a taxer.
With a month left before the election, Kuster finally addressed it, and only in response to media inquiries during a debate televised on WBNE-TV in Derry.
The political damage had already been done to Kuster, and it speaks to why she won the race by only five points, underperforming in the 2nd District to both President Barack Obama and Gov. Maggie Hassan, who each won in the western half of the state by double digits.
Last week, University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabbato rated Kuster’s seat as “vulnerable,” while making the 1st District seat held by Carol Shea-Porter as a “toss-up.”
If Kuster continues to stay quiet about the problems she had with her personal finances, she could soon join Shea-Porter in the category of endangered species on Capitol Hill.
Called to task
You’ll pardon state Republican leaders for not being overly impressed with Kuster’s move to repeal a lucrative deal for the AmGen drug company in the fiscal cliff deal.
Kuster agreed to co-sponsor the measure after published reports that AmGen got involved in the bipartisan deficit agreement – that is, a carve-out of Medicaid being able to restrict the cost of its dialysis medication for the next two years.
“Congresswoman Kuster is trying to distract from her long history as an enthusiastic supporter of big drug companies and her lucrative work as registered lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry,” GOP communications director Meg Stone said.
“ She wants Granite Staters to forget that despite her long history of delinquent tax payments, she made hundreds of thousands of dollars as a well-heeled lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America and Merck Pharmaceutical before she ran for Congress.”
Hassan budget preview
Hassan will present her first budget on Thursday, and it’s by no means a political layup.
After barely a month on the job, Hassan has had to figure out how to balance the books for the next two years, balancing an anemic recovery of state revenues with her campaign promises to restore some budget cuts made by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011.
Count on one thing: She won’t deliver on all of her desired spending add-backs because there just isn’t the revenue for it.
Here are some of the things to watch for:
University System of New Hampshire. Can Hassan find the $100 million in state aid taken away from higher education in this spending plan? Not likely, but there will be a dramatic increase.
Gambling. Politically, Hassan is better off trying to make do without this revenue source for two reasons.
First, it permits her to present a conservative spending plan, albeit with some difficult budget-cutting moves.
Second, there is no guarantee the House is going to end its longtime opposition to casino gambling.![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
↧