'We Don't Want Scott Brown to Represent New Hampshire'

By Carol Robidoux

Scott Brown arrived fashionably late for the 6 p.m. NHGOP fundraising soiree in Nashua, driving his road-worn salt-licked green truck with the Massachusetts license plates.

Traffic was tough from Boston, he said.

He stepped out of the truck and removed his trademark brown barn jacket, revealing his holiday party finery. 

Then, he politely fielded a few quick questions from the media, including whether he was going to run for the Senate as a New Hampshire Republican, and what he thought about the 200 protesters who came out in force, most of them to tell Brown his "anti-gun" policies and Massachusetts loyalties are not welcome here.

Brown said he respected and appreciated the freedom of speech our democracy allows, even when it's directed against him.

"It energizes me. I have to be honest with you – I didn't expect a holiday Christmas party to get protested, but maybe that's the new way things are done," Brown said.

He mentioned that he was excited to be returning to the place where he was born, ready to start a new chapter in his life, now that his kids are grown.

Brown was tapped by the New Hampshire GOP to be the featured guest at its annual fundraising Christmas party. 

Among those protesting across the street from the historic Hunt Memorial Building on Main Street – many of them dressed in blaze orange hunting gear – were Mitch Kopacz, president of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, and a member of Pelham Fish & Game Club. 

"I think what we're trying to do is send a message to (NH GOP Chair) Jennifer Horn and the GOP that we don't want Scott Brown to represent New Hampshire. He's running here because he couldn't win in Massachusetts. He won by accident, and then he couldn't win again, because he betrayed his constituents. He betrayed everything he stood for," Kopacz said. 

"It sounds like Scott Brown is a political animal, and will say whatever he has to say to get elected," Kopacz said.

In a prepared statement issued Thursday prior to the event, Horn reacted to a news conference held by New Hampshire Democratic Party leaders, attacking Brown for courting New Hampshire voters. 

"Democrats are desperate to distract from Senator Jeanne Shaheen's deciding vote for ObamaCare, her disgraceful vote to slash benefits for our military retirees and her decades of failed leadership. Shaheen is a typical Washington politician who has ignored the will of her constituents, blindly taken orders from her party leaders and voted with President Obama over 95 percent of the time," wrote Horn.

"Shaheen has also demonstrated that she is a shameless hypocrite who rails against Wall Street, but has accepted over a million dollars in Wall Street contributions. Shaheen was even willing to neglect her official obligations by intentionally missing an important, mandatory vote so that she could raise campaign cash at a Wall Street fundraiser with lobbyists and special interests," Horn said.
 
Earlier Thursday NH Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said, given his lack of success as a candidate in Massachusetts, he wasn't sure why Brown thought he would have a shot at winning over New Hampshire voters.

Brown officially confirmed Thursday that he has sold his home in Wrentham, Mass., and will be living full time in Rye, New Hampshire.

"Whatever prompted him to begin this odd journey, what has now happened, the Wall Street special interests outside of New Hampshire are coming into our state and trying to push Scott Brown back into the Senate," Buckley said. "No matter what the genesis of this was, it's clear the big money guys want Scott Brown to represent them."
 
Standing alone with a sign that read, "Let's Put RINOs on the Endangered List in NH. Scott Brown Go Home," was Dennis Hamel of Henniker, who said he wasn't affiliated with any group.

"Scott Brown is on the record as being willing to infringe on Second Amendment Rights, therefore, he's just fine in Massachusetts. I don't have any angst or anger with this guy – the simple fact is we just don't need any more people who are squishy on the Constitution in New Hampshire, especially in the Republican Party," Hamel said.