Letter to Rich Ashooh from Bob Bestani

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Editor’s Note: The following is an open letter to Richard Ashooh, who has announced his bid for the 1st Congressional district seat.

Dear Rich,

First let me welcome you to the race for the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. It can only help the state and the party to have a vigorous contest for the seat. As the old saying goes, “You are only as good as your competition forces you to be.”

When Frank Guinta first got into the race in May, I wrote to him to propose that we set up a regularly scheduled series of joint meetings at the various GOP gatherings and other open public forums to discuss the leading issues that will be on the state and national agenda. At its best, politics is fundamentally about issues and ideas. It seems to me that as the officially filed candidates, we owe it to both our party members and the general electorate to put in front of them where we stand on the issues of the day. Equally as important, those ideas and positions need to be publicly discussed and tested.

Sadly, Frank has repeatedly refused to take me up on this offer. He either thinks he is above the process or is not willing to have his positions publicly challenged. As a result, far too much of this race has been filled with empty sound bites, platitudes and slogans.

I am sure you will agree with me that we owe it to the New Hampshire electorate to discuss these issues openly and in depth. Let’s help educate the electorate on the issues and force our Democratic opponent to do the same. We will all be far better off for it.

I hope you will join me in a series of public discussions across the district on the issues of the day, where we stand on those issues and what we each bring to the effort of best serving the good people of New Hampshire.

All the best,

BOB BESTANI

Newmarket