DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, May 2, 2005 7:00 pm
MANCHESTER, N.H. Sen. Chuck Hagel opened a three-day visit to New Hampshire Monday night with a call for national leadership and bipartisan cooperation that turned some heads. "I didn't know him, but I like what I see and I like what I hear," said B. J. Perry, a local businessman who hosted a Republican reception in his home that attracted nearly 100 people on a rainy evening.
"He's a unique kind of man. He shoots from the hip. He's worthy of getting my vote."
Tim Powers, a Californian who attends Saint Anselm College in Manchester, said Hagel's focus on attempting to resolve a litany of national challenges through consensus "without trying to rub it in the nose of the other side" moved the Nebraska senator onto the short list of presidential prospects he could support.
"I thought he was really, really good," said Powers, who is first vice chairman of the New Hampshire College Republicans.
In the classic style of New Hampshire presidential politics, Hagel stood in the living room of a Manchester home, introducing himself, describing his priorities and answering questions on a variety of issues. Hagel has said he will consider a bid for the presidency in 2008, but will not decide whether to follow that course until after the 2006 elections.
Hagel's trip to New Hampshire this week lays the groundwork for a possible campaign in a state that will hold the country's first presidential primary of 2008.
Hagel will take his message to three college campuses today.
Although it was clear one questioner believed John Bolton should receive Senate confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations without further discussion, Hagel said allegations about Bolton's pattern of behavior and fitness for the position are "coming from serious people" and should be explored rather than trying to "ramrod a party vote" through the Senate.
When questioned about a Republican plan to end minority filibuster rights in the Senate over judicial nominees, Hagel said "both parties' hands are not clean" when it comes to preventing Senate votes on nomination of federal judges and "both parties need to stop this."
But restricting minority rights would "not be in the best interest of this country," he said.
Hagel used one question to dispute descriptions of him as "a moderate Republican." He said he is one of three senators who gained a 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union.
"I've always been a conservative," he said.
Hagel also reminded the audience he was national co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's 2000 presidential bid. McCain is a popular figure in New Hampshire, having defeated George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential primary in the Granite State.
In his first appearance on the three-day swing, Hagel was shadowed by C-SPAN's lights and open microphone as he worked his way through Perry's living room, shaking hands and stopping to chat with guests at the reception. Proceeds from the $25-per-person event helped fund Manchester's local Republican committee.
"I know you're unaccustomed to having politicians up here," he joked, suggesting the real purpose of his visit was to recruit linebackers and wide receivers for the Nebraska football team.
Huge national issues like Social Security reform, trade, energy policy, immigration reform, health care and runaway federal spending can only be resolved by both parties working together, Hagel said.
Asked if there are Democratic senators willing to cooperate, Hagel said: "Sure, there are. Enough to make things work. Enough to get 60 votes."
Sixty votes are enough to overcome Senate filibusters.
State Sen. Bob Odell of Lempster said Hagel comes to New Hampshire positioned to be a competitive candidate if he decides to enter the 2008 primary.
"Everybody in New Hampshire gets an even shot," Odell said earlier Monday as he took a break from his senatorial duties in Concord at the gold-domed Capitol, built in 1819.
"Hagel comes here with a great record, a lot of experience and as a very open-minded senator. The people of New Hampshire like someone like him who is direct."
Odell said he has known Hagel since the Nebraskan served as president of the USO in the 1970s. If Hagel ultimately decides to jump into the New Hampshire presidential derby, Odell said, he'll be ready to lend a helping hand.
Hagel came to New Hampshire in 2002 to campaign for Odell when he won a seat in the 24-member state senate.
If Hagel takes the plunge, Odell said, he doesn't need to worry about whether his message will be heard.
"Elections are our hobby," he said. "Politics is everything for us."
Down the hall in Room 204, New Hampshire's veteran Secretary of State Bill Gardner said the lessons for presidential primary candidates in New Hampshire are clear.
"Everybody starts even," said the man who has presided over the primary since 1976.
"But you can't run as an imperial candidate. You do that at your peril. It's not the way to go."
The winners will be found in New Hampshire's living rooms, Gardner said, and they will spend enormous chunks of time in the state.
Jimmy Carter slept overnight in more than 70 homes. John McCain spoke at 110 town meetings.
McCain understood New Hampshire voters, Gardner said.
"He'd give a speech in which he said it's important for you to find out as much about me as you can, and so here I am. And he would take questions for as long as an hour or two."
Although the 2008 presidential primary election will be held that January, Gardner said, "the real primary is the summer before that and the spring before that and the winter before that. You need to spend time here."
The winner doesn't need to have the largest war chest or the most name recognition, the secretary of state said. But the winner is likely to have made "a connection with real people in people's homes," he said.
Republican State Chairman Warren Henderson of Concord said New Hampshire provides an opportunity for potential candidates to begin to spotlight issues now.
"They have the chance to elevate an issue or a series of issues that may become a part of the dialogue in the next presidential debate."
New Hampshire priorities probably do not differ much from those on the national agenda, Henderson said.
"Taxation, national security, education, Social Security," he said. "But we're also on pins and needles now about the next military base closure and relocation recommendations due in May."
Protection of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is an economic priority for the state, he said. The shipyard employs about 1,800 New Hampshire residents and another 2,400 who live in Maine.
"So far, we've dodged the bullet," Henderson said. "That base is important to us."
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.