Looking to the past

Friday, April 9, 2010

Staff Photo by Grant Morris Jim Bender laughs with his daughter Jaqueline after having a family picture taken at the opening of his Senate campaign headquarters in Hollis, Saturday afternoon.

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Staff Photo by Grant Morris Senate candidate, Jim Bender, right, hands a business card to Hollis resident, Andrea O'Reilly during an open house to celebrate the opening of his campaign headquarters in Hollis, Saturday afternoon.

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Staff Photo by Grant Morris Jim Bender laughs with his daughter Jaqueline after having a family picture taken at the opening of his Senate campaign headquarters in Hollis, Saturday afternoon.

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HOLLIS – The rooms of Jim Bender’s campaign office give insight into what will drive his run for the U.S. Senate.

Three of the four rooms are named for New Hampshire’s signers of the Declaration of Independence: Josiah Bartlett, Matthew Thornton and William Whipple.

Bender has an affinity for U.S. history. When recounting Gen. George Washington’s Christmas night crossing of the Delaware, for instance, Bender paused twice to find the words he felt best described the sacrifices of the Revolutionary soldiers.

Washington and the other Founding Fathers serve as examples for how Bender believes contemporary politicians should conduct themselves in office.

Just as Bartlett, Thornton and Whipple traveled with honor to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration, members of today’s Congress should legislate in Washington, D.C., with the full understanding that they represent the public and not themselves, Bender said.

Certainly, Bender is not the first, nor the last, politician to use the Founding Fathers as a touchstone when decrying the current ways of Washington. But the 57-year-old Hollis resident said he believes that now, more than ever, voters want politicians who remember who they represent.

“It’s a standard we have to adhere to,” Bender said. “It’s a privilege to serve the people.”

Abolishing earmarks – legislators’ allocated funds to projects back home – is one of Bender’s ideas for changing the culture in the Capitol.

The other three Republicans vying for the Senate – Kelly Ayotte, Bill Binnie and Ovide Lamontagne – have either always opposed earmarks or have recently switched to a position of opposition. Democrat U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, who also seeks the open Senate seat that Judd Gregg will vacate, this year said he would abandon earmarking after using the process as a congressman.

Bender also proposes that all members of Congress should serve no longer than 12 years. If a president must leave office after eight years, then no one will miss a Representative or senator after 12 years, he said.

He promised to serve only one term, but also said he would seek re-election if pushed by voters. However, Bender said he would not engage in around-the-clock fundraising during his first term, hoping that his accomplishments and not money would earn him a second term.

Bender declined to discuss campaign finance reform, an issue oft cited by those seeking change in federal politics.

Last year, when Bender considered running, John H. Sununu, a former governor and current head of the state Republican party, asked him how much of his own money he was willing to invest in a Senate campaign.

“I’m already in a million,” Bender said last week when asked what he told Sununu. He said campaign costs could exceed $10 million, but hopes a slew of $5 to $10 donations will lessen his burden and spark a popular grassroots campaign.

Bender spoke in his newly opened Post Office Square campaign office. He sat in a plastic lawn chair, a necessary piece of temporary furniture until he and his staff held an open house days later.

Bender comes to politics after 25 years in the private sector, which included leading Logicraft, a former Nashua computer network-server company.

He said his innovative nature and knack for business makes him well-suited for the Senate. “Congress is dominated by lawyers,” he said. “You have a real lack of understanding for economics.”

A concern for businesses sits at the top of Bender’s Senate priorities. He wants to lessen the taxes paid by companies, a move that he said will free them to innovate and reduce unemployment.

“Businesses feel that Congress is not for them,” he said. “Taxes are high and fluctuating.”

Bender proposes lowering taxes for individuals as well, including the capital gains tax.

He also wants to reduce the size of government, balance the budget, and see the health care system strengthened by improvements through the private marketplace and not government reform.

Bender and his campaign staff promote his candidacy as an underdog bid and one centered from the outside.

It’s a theme most recently and successfully used by another Republican, Scott Brown, to win a Senate seat in Massachusetts. Bender recently hired Beth Lindstrom, Brown’s campaign manager, to work the same magic for him.

But Bender also seems willing to reach further into the past for motivation. “Wouldn’t it be something to have leaders who can inspire?” he said. “When you have leaders who don’t understand our forebearers … you’re going to get bad results.”

Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or amckeon@ nashuatelegraph.com.