Posted on 05/18/2003 1:26:07 AM PDT by RJCogburn
On an evening to honor his 18 years in Congress, former Sen. Bob Smith last night suggested his political career might not be over and blasted supposed friends who “stabbed you in the back.”
In his first major public appearance in New Hampshire since losing a bruising primary battle last September, Smith talked about the sacrifices his wife, Mary Jo, had made during campaigning and spoke of “people who you thought were your friends who aren’t your friends who stabbed you in the back.”
The comments came at the end of a long night of tributes and repeated standing ovations regarding both the public and private man.
Smith announced he was starting a non-profit foundation to aid military families whose loved ones are injured or killed in any war, past or present.
At the Center of New Hampshire event, which drew about 500 people, Smith said he had wondered what he could do with his life “now that the political career is over — at least for the time being.”
Smith said the “greatest honor in my life” was serving 18 years in the Congress.
“We are ready to face a new life, a new journey,” added Mrs. Smith.
The $50-a-person dinner celebrated Smith’s his years in Congress — from 1984 when he won the first of three consecutive terms for the U.S. House to last year, when he lost his Republican primary after 12 years in the Senate.
Gov. Craig Benson proclaimed yesterday “Robert Smith Day” and “Mary Jo Smith Day” in New Hampshire.
“Bob Smith is a poster child for passion and commitment,” the governor said.
The American Patriot Foundation will be based in Merrimack with the goal of establishing chapters in every state within the next year. He hopes the non-profit organization will offer scholarships and job training.
“I lost my father in the Second World War and I had a very difficult time because my mother was a widow. (We) survived only on a very small pension,” Smith, a Navy veteran, told reporters at the dinner.
“It was hard for us and when I saw these young children from those families of those who lost their lives in the most recent war, it kind of triggered my mind a little bit to think it would be good to start a foundation . . . .”
The elder Smith died two days before his son’s fourth birthday. Smith’s dad served in World War II and died at the end of the war in a military aircraft off the Virginia coast.
Smith said tens of thousands of dollars already have been pledged to the foundation.
Before the speeches began, Smith didn’t want to talk to reporters about public office or critique anyone else’s political performance.
“I have no comment on politics,” Smith said earlier in the evening.
Wearing a black tuxedo, Smith said he has spent time with his family, traveling and losing 35 pounds.
“There are some good things about getting out of politics,” he said.
Many current and former office holders attended, including former congressman and Ambassador Dick Swett (who lost to Smith in 1996) and ex-Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who would have faced Smith last November had he won his primary. U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, who defeated Smith in last year’s primary, did not attend the dinner.
“We need to retain civility in the political process,” Shaheen said. “Unfortunately, too much of that is being lost today.”
U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley said, “Senator Smith has served his country very ably both as a member of the Navy and 18 years as a member of Congress.”
Asked if the Republican Party has recovered from last fall’s divisive primary, Bradley replied, “I’d like to think the healing has taken place. We have put things behind us.”
Smith’s youngest son, Jason, recounted a fishing trip he took just with his dad to the Gulf of Mexico.
“Of all the people in New Hampshire and of all the people in the capital, he was there with me and just me. I thought that was pretty great,” the son said. “Dad, you’ll always be my hero.”
“Mine too,” yelled a woman in the audience.”
Guests could take home leftover “Bob Smith for President” bumper stickers and cardboard fans from his 1984 congressional race.
Smith, who briefly ran for President in 1999, angered many in his party that year when in July he gave a speech critical of the Republican Party, only to return three months later and become chairman of a key Senate environmental committee. He later admitted that leaving the party was a mistake, although he insisted that criticizing it wasn’t.
When some Republicans sensed Smith’s seat last year could be in jeopardy, they encouraged Sununu, then a U.S. congressman, to challenge the incumbent from his own party.
Smith further angered party regulars when he rejected a White House invitation to appear with President Bush on Sununu’s behalf at a Manchester fundraiser last October and for not personally rejecting a write-in effort that Smith supporters waged in the general election.
“I think it’s asking too much of a person to expect or to demand that they stand there and smile and wave with people who have treated you so shabbily,” state Democratic Party chair Kathleen Sullivan said Friday.
“When you betray personal loyalty, it’s hard for someone to show party loyalty back,” Sullivan said.
“It’s not that Bob Smith burned bridges to the Republican Party,” Sullivan said. “It’s certain people, the members of the Republican establishment, burned bridges to Bob Smith.”
Sullivan said two things impressed her about Smith, a man she routinely criticized when he was in office.
“One is he never tried to hide who he was or what he stood for. He’s a very honest person,” she said. “Second, as a senator, he grew and he adapted and he was willing to look at positions. The classic example is where he stood on environmental issues.”
Smith became more friendly to environmentalists through the years.
Last November, Smith told The Union Leader he and his family were so devastated by his primary loss that “I just didn’t have it in me to do more” to help Sununu in the general election campaign.
State Republican Party chair Jayne Millerick said Friday the dinner was for people to thank Smith for his years of service to the state.
“I think he will be remembered as somebody who fought for the taxpayers of New Hampshire and who regardless of whether you agreed with him on every issue, you always knew where he stood on the issues,” Millerick said.
They are both "back stabbers".
Read the article again. The back stab quip was in quotes but it was not a full sentence; there was no context. Nothing before and nothing following.
Any other negative comments are from others. This is a hit piece as best it can be woven. There is no more honorable man than Sen. Smith who has, historically, the most conservative voting record in the Senate.
yitbos
Hire the handicapped, huh?
Bob was a straight shooter...telling it the way he saw it. Usually he was right, at least from my point of view. Not the brightest fellow, but a straight shooter.
More recently he had changed his approach to things, seeming to be more interested in the power and percs. So, his shootin' was off...thus the foot wound.
I was at this Dinner last night, He is anything but bitter. What the "article" suggests is not the same as what Smith actually say's. He expressed how hard it was for him. He was a very gracious speaker, Him and his family were very thankful to NH for supporting him in the past. To Compare Smith to Jim Jeffords is a bit of a stretch wouldn't you think? He didn't give the "balance of power to the dems." He stood apart from the party, based on principles not politics, there is a vast difference.
No matter the Flames I may receive I am a Proud Supporter of such honorable man as Bob Smith. :)
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