Bosse looks back at race

By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

Grant Bosse said that he thought he had been able to spread his conservative message beyond the traditional Republican base in this year's Republican primary.

The Hillsboro Republican finished fourth in a five-way race in the 2nd Congressional District that saw Jennifer Horn (R-Nashua) capture the nomination.

"I was surprised, I had thought that I had done more to communicate outside that core Republican vote," Bosse told PolitickerNH.com. "We'd done between Channel 9, the WMUR debate that I thought we did well, I did some direct mail I thought I had broken out of that activist base and looking at where the numbers came in I just didn't perform that well outside my home area. It's obvious that I didn't build any sort of name recognition outside those votes that go to the Grafton County Republican meetings."

Bosse said he would have spent more time focused on fundraising.

"I probably would have concentrated the first months less on grassroots which is unfortunate. I wouldn't have spent every day on the road I would have spent several days a week simply raising money," he said. "I had tried to do a very low-cost bare bones campaign and it just didn't quite come together."

When asked how Horn was able to defeat Clegg, Bosse said, "It was obvious that her theme fit her as a first time candidate and she was able to drive it home a lot more effectively than Bob's which was essentially introducing himself and talking about his own personal experience."

Bosse also said that he is likely to run for office again in the future.

"I'll probably run for something again," he said. "I really enjoyed it and I still feel as passionate about the issues as I did yesterday."

Brian Lawson is a PolitickerNH.com Reporter and can be reached via email at brian.lawson@politickernh.com.

Related topics: primary, Jennifer Horn, Bob Clegg, NH-2, Grant Bosse, campaign

Email this Article

Comments

Bosse Was Impressive

posted by Jim Splaine

Grant Bosse was impressive during his first run. Going up against the other three isn't an easy chore, and he seemed to handle it ith gumption and gusto. He'll be back. Would be good to have him in the Legislature brainstorming on issues.

In his case, the "Granny D" concept of voluntary public funding would have let him have some realistic funding levels, if he qualified with broad support, without having to spend lots of days on fundrasing. The concept of public funding has people like Grant Bosse in mind. We'll see what the current Commission working on the issue comes up with by December 1st.

I called the 1st District correctly, but didn't consider Jennifer Horn's base of support in the 2nd when I said I thought Bob Clegg would make it. Bob's a good guy and I expect he'll be back again, too. Too much to lose there for him to just fade away.

It's clear Paul Hodes will have a challenge in November, but he'll do it. I'll bet a free coffee and muffin on Hodes winning for anyone who wants to take me up on it.

09/11/08 10:16 am

Thanks

posted by Grant Bosse

Thanks for the kinds words, Jim. I've always tried to work well with Democrats, even as we disagree on basic principles. The key to bipartisanship isn't to cave on your principles or run to the middle, but to work from different starting points to find common ground.
I have to disagree with Representative Splaine's argument for public financing. I didn't raise enough money because I didn't raise enough money. That's my own fault. I knew on the day I signed up that my opponents would be able to fund their own campaigns, and I wouldn't. I was never able to build the fundraising coalition I needed to break out beyond Republican activists and get my message to all voters.
I did very well among the folks who saw me speak two or three times. But the folks I never met personally never heard of me. I'm not asking taxpayers to fund my campaign so that they can get to know me.
I enjoyed this campaign, and was honored to seek the Republican nomination in the Second District. I look forward to working for victory for our entire Republican ticket over the next eight weeks.

09/11/08 11:02 am