Five takeaways from New Hampshire Senate debate

GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan on Thursday night clashed in the fifth debate of the critical New Hampshire Senate race as both parties’ presidential nominees loomed large.

{mosads}With 12 days left in the nationally watched toss-up race, the tension between Ayotte and Hassan was palpable. They are in a nearly deadlocked battle, with the GOP senator leading with a razor-thin edge in a race likely to determine which party controls the Senate next year.

Here are five takeaways in the penultimate Senate debate. 

The race to be “less Washington”

You’d think “special interests” was a swear word the number of times Ayotte and Hassan slung that term at each other.

The Democratic challenger first accused Ayotte of standing with corporate special interests when discussing whether to bring drugs from Canada, in an answer to a question submitted by a local voter to moderators via the Open Debate Coalition. Hassan argued the policy would be an effective way to bring drug costs down. 

“[That’s] something that Ayotte has voted against, and that’s really reflective of her pattern in Washington of standing with corporate special interests like big pharma, who are major donors to her campaign.”

“Gov. Hassan’s favorite talking point is that somehow I’m supporting special interests,” Ayotte shot back. “You know, the irony is that she’s actually raising money from lobbyists from big pharma as she’s criticizing me.”

Hassan re-upped the special interests talking point later in the debate over Pell Grants, a federal subsidy for students who need help paying for college. Hassan accused Ayotte of voting to cut $90 billion of cuts to the program. Ayotte fired back, accusing Hassan of not reading the bill. 

“I voted to make sure no cuts to Pell Grants … you can go read it yourself.”

Hillary who? Hassan not worried about bucking party 

Hassan has been a fervent supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and frequently joins her out on the campaign trail. But at Thursday’s debate, the governor seemed to keep her at arm’s length as evidence that she isn’t scared to buck her own party.

“I stood up to Hillary Clinton,” Hassan said. “I don’t support the president’s proposal, for instance, to close Guantanamo Bay. I’ll continue to fight for the people of New Hampshire as I have.”

When asked about the emails from Clinton’s campaign that have been published by WikiLeaks, Hassan dodged the question and pointed to Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) point that lawmakers shouldn’t discuss them. WikiLeaks, which continues to dog Clinton’s campaign, has published thousands of hacked emails from her campaign chairman, John Podesta.

“It’s really a mistake to give credence to this WikiLeaks stream,” Hassan said, repeating a similar answer from Tuesday’s radio debate. “You’re supporting the very people who hacked into these records when you do that, I think it’s a real mistake to do that.”

But Hassan used the topic as an opportunity to create some daylight between her and the Democratic standard-bearer. The governor criticized Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State. 

“I will never fail to stand up to Secretary Clinton or my party,” Hassan said. “I have criticized her for her handling of her emails. That was a mistake. She agrees it’s a mistake. She has apologized for that.”

Trump’s the gift that keeps on giving 

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been a major part of every debate in the Granite State, and Thursday’s showdown was no exception.

Moderator Paul Steinhauser of NH1 asked about a mailer sent by the state’s Republican Party that reads “Donald Trump needs senators like Kelly Ayotte in the United States Senate.” Hassan’s campaign has seized on the mailer, arguing in an ad that Ayotte has walked back her decision to rescind her support for Trump. 

But Ayotte denied any campaign involvement in the mailer and noted that she frequently stands up to her party’s nominee compared to her opponent. 

“I don’t know where that one comes from. It doesn’t come from my campaign,” Ayotte said. “I’ve stood up to my party, unlike Gov. Hassan. I’m going to put priorities of New Hampshire first.

“She has not stood up to her nominee. If you think about it, she’ll give you talking points about where she disagrees with President Obama, but she has not stood up to Hillary Clinton on anything of consequence, whether it’s the Iran deal, whether it’s the healthcare law.”

Ayotte made headlines at one of the first debates when she said she believed Trump was a “role model” for children, which she quickly walked back, saying she “misspoke.” And since the leak of the 2005 tape in which Trump brags about groping and kissing women without consent, Ayotte has withdrawn her support for the real estate mogul.

Ayotte, Hassan cast themselves as bipartisan dealmakers

Both Ayotte and Hassan drove home a repeated message throughout the debate: They have experience working across party lines and plan to bring that bipartisan fashion to break up Washington gridlock. 

Ayotte noted instances when she has worked with Democrats such as fellow New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, while characterizing her opponent as a candidate “recruited in this race by the power brokers in Washington, Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, who want control” of the Senate.

“I also happen to have one of the most bipartisan records in the Senate, focused on getting things done for the people of this state,” Ayotte said. 

“I’m standing up for you, and that’s what I’m always going to do because I think about the people of New Hampshire who are struggling and that’s the work we need to do,” she said later in the debate.

Hassan was quick to undercut her opponent’s description as she sought to link her to billionaire Republican donors Charles and David Koch: “I dispute her characterization, it’s not a bipartisan record at all.”

The governor also highlighted the Granite State’s Medicaid expansion program as a bipartisan accomplishment when discussing the soaring premiums of ObamaCare.

“We need to improve the Affordable Care Act to be sure, but we shouldn’t go back to a time when people who have pre-existing conditions couldn’t buy insurance,” Hassan said. “We have our bipartisan Medicaid expansion program in New Hampshire, which offers coverage to over 50,000 hard working Granite Staters.”

The ObamaCare issue isn’t going anywhere

ObamaCare had largely been left out of the national debate until this week, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported average premium increases of 25 percent next year on health insurance plans sold on the exchanges. During Thursday’s debate, the Affordable Care Act took center stage.  

Despite a small premium hike in New Hampshire, Ayotte criticized ObamaCare for the larger national premium increases, arguing Hassan’s refusal to break with her party on the law showed her weakness.

“Talk about standing with her party. Who’s going to make changes to the Affordable Care Act to have more transparency? Because Gov. Hassan stands with Hillary Clinton on this, and this system needs to be changed.”

Meanwhile, Hassan repeatedly criticized Ayotte for voting to repeal ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. 

“We … did put together a New Hampshire-based bipartisan solution to Medicaid expansion, which despite her protests here, Sen. Ayotte has voted to repeal it five times with no extensions.”

Ayotte defended Hassan’s claims, arguing she voted to keep the Medicaid expansion for two years, providing a transition window for New Hampshire policymakers to create a state fix to the expansion.