Charlie Bass' influence on public policy might be in dispute, but he's a safe candidate. There's no one they can throw at him to beat him. Same with Bradley-- there's no one that can beat him. Fran won't run against Bradley. I spoke with her at the WMUR Sununu-Shaheen debate. She will likely go to the state senate in the future. She was offered it until redistricting screwed things up.
Bob Smith sure as hell won't go to the House with his tail between his legs. He couldn't even get over his loss to Sununu to meet the President in NH. You really think that Mary Jo will let him be a congressman representing Sununu's old district while Sununu represents the state in the Senate? No. Smith is done. He won't risk another humiliating defeat.
Our new NHGOP chair (Jayne Marcucci Millerick) is a YR. She'll be great.
Marcucci is pro-abortion. She is precisely the type of person who'd have worked against Reagan in 1976 and 1980...I remember these fools like it was yesterday.
As for Smith, whether he runs or not, he is certainly capable of aggressively campaigning for somebody. He was never afraid to campaign for Reagan-Republicans in the past and I see no reason, especially given Bradley's championing of abortion and homosexuality, that he'd hesitate to support an primary challenger: Ditto Humphrey.
Then there is the Bradley-cowardice factor. The fact that your not disturbed by a draft dodger representing Southern New Hampshire says much about you.