Maggie Hassan is doing everything she can to verbally distance herself from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s disparaging remarks about New Hampshire’s primary and people while preserving her own self interest, i.e. the millions Reid-affiliated groups plan to spend on her senate race.
However, the ties between Reid and Hassan are well-established and the media is taking note, meaning she’ll have a hard time making her hypocritical PR stunt pass the smell test with Granite Staters, unless her rhetoric is accompanied by a pledge to repudiate Reid’s money and support.
Here’s what news outlets across the state are reporting:
New Hampshire Public Radio: “‘Senator Reid’s disparaging comments about New Hampshire are as insulting as they are wrong, and an apology would certainly be appropriate.’ That was Gov. Maggie Hassan, whom Reid personally wooed to run for U.S. Senate next year.”
WMUR’s John DiStaso: “A political action committee associated with Reid, the Senate Majority PAC, encouraged Hassan to run for the U.S. Senate.”
Television reports highlighted Reid praising Hassan within seconds of slamming the Granite State:
None of this is new information; Reid has been linked to Hassan’s candidacy for months. Politico reported that recruiting Hasan was a top goal for Reid:
The effort is part recruitment, part fundraising. Reid helped persuade former Sen. Russ Feingold to run in Wisconsin and his allies have called New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan as part of the party’s full-court press to urge New Hampshire’s governor to run in the state’s marquee Senate race.
Reid was so all-in for Hassan that his affiliated PAC, the Senate Majority PAC, started spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on her behalf before she was even in the race. Roll Call reported in September:
Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC that backs Senate Democrats, on Wednesday released its second ad attacking Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire Republican who is a top target in 2016…The ad is backed by a $300,000 buy, WMUR reported Monday. It’s Senate Majority PAC’s second ad in the race, and brings Democrats’ total spending in the state to $550,000.
Hassan did get asked whether she’d keep taking Reid’s money while feigning outrage at his comments. Unsurprisingly, she ignored the question: