Battleground New Hampshire?

The question being asked by some is will New Hampshire be the “next NY-23″.  In my opinion the people asking that question doesn’t understand how New Hampshire Republican politics works.  Unlike, our friends on the left, we allow our candidates to make their case to the voters.  They don’t need to to be anointed by the ivory towers of the State party machine.   When it is all said and done, the candidates will be tested by voters and the best will rise to the top in each of them.  If the debate is done in a constructive manner where it is based on issues and not personal attacks, the Republican Party will be better on the whole for it.

One of the issues that arose out of the results from Tuesday was the perceived fight for the soul of the Republican Party of Conservatives versus Moderates.  To some extent this is being played out in New Hampshire and being noticed by the national media as well.  While, some will see this an intra-party civil war, I see it as the New Hampshire political process working once again.  Where the best candidate makes their case and moves on to face the Democrat in the General Election.

While, some will consider the fact that at least two of the three Federal races next year will have primaries as bad for the party.  I think it shows that New Hampshire has a robust bench of candidates and that the issues will be debated for the benefit of Granite Staters.  Here are the two race that The Hill pick out as races that will be watched for their potential ideological differences in New Hampshire:

3. New Hampshire 2nd. District – Jennifer Horn vs. former Rep. Charlie Bass

Bass, as the pro-abortion rights former head of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, is a natural target for conservatives. Horn has plenty of name recognition as the 2008 GOP nominee for the seat, and she’s going after Bass hard. At the tail end of the New York special election, she endorsed Hoffman and said she thought the same dynamic would play out in her race with Bass. Even Bass supporters admit Horn could give him a run for his money, but a diluted primary field could hurt her chances.

10. New Hampshire – Field vs. Kelly Ayotte

Wealthy businessman Bill Binnie got into the race this week, and we’re still waiting on former gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne and others to make their decisions. Ayotte doesn’t have a voting record and she hasn’t run for office, so going after her on issues will be a process. Much of the early knocks on her have to do with how she’s the establishment favorite. If anything, it looks like there might be too many candidates making that argument for any of them to take advantage of it. If she’s head-to-head with one of them, though, it could get interesting.

Of course these stories are only beginning to develop now and only time will tell how they will impact the landscape of 2010.  But, I still see them as an advantage for New Hampshire and not a negative.