Place with political pedigree
Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) - From the outside, it looks like a plain store front that could be anywhere USA.
But step inside 379 Elm Street in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, and you enter a building with a rich history in campaign politics. And Scott Brown is writing the latest chapter in the building's political biography.
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The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts is setting up shop in the building, just a couple of weeks after he formally launched his Republican challenge against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in this year's midterm elections.
The building on the city's major north/south downtown thoroughfare is just a stone's throw from WMUR, New Hampshire's top broadcast TV station, and just a few blocks from the heart of the Manchester, the state's largest city.
New role for old Hillary Clinton HQ
Brown is far from the first candidate to work out of the building. In 2007, then-Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut used the cavernous offices as his Granite State headquarters for his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. But after a disappointing sixth place finish in the January 2008 Iowa caucuses, Dodd called it quits, just days ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Hillary Clinton, then a New York senator, took over the space after that as she battled Barack Obama for party's nomination in a marathon and historic primary and caucus battle.
After Clinton bowed out that June, the New Hampshire Democrats used the building as their coordinated campaign office for the 2008 general election.
Two years later, then Rep.-Paul Hodes moved in, using the building as his HQ for his 2010 bid for Senate. Hodes ended up losing that year to the GOP candidate, former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte.
The one-story building, with a cavernous unfinished empty basement, has only a few bumper stickers and other mementos left from its past political occupants. The central location, the large space, and the relatively low rent are all reasons why political campaigns are repeatedly attracted to the building.
"New Hampshire campaign offices are like bad pennies – they keep turning up cycle after cycle with different candidates. Mostly because Manchester is a small city, and everybody knows where to find large, low rent spaces with plenty of parking and easy access for volunteers," New Hampshire Republican strategist Ryan Williams told CNN.
Considering that Dodd, Clinton, and Hodes all lost their bids, Brown's campaign is hoping for better results.
"When you move into one of these well known political locations, you hope to exorcise the demons of the losing campaigns that previously occupied the space and pick up the luck left over from the winning efforts," added Williams, a key member of Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns who is currently advising the state Republican party and assisting Brown’s Senate bid.
Williams is very familiar with the location. He worked right next door, at 359 Elm Street, which served as Romney's New Hampshire headquarters during his two bids for the White House. In between Romney's two presidential campaigns, the building housed Republican Ovide Lamontagne's headquarters during his unsuccessful run for the Senate in 2010.
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LOL – considering EVERY SINGLE candidate who has used that building for their headquarters has dropped out due to poor showing – or just flat out LOST, I say go for it!
Nightmare on Elm Street.
Scott Brown ?
The washed up model / politician who can't find a real jobs ?
I wonder which state he'll try for in 2016??
It seems the MSM is in love with this guy. Scared of real work so just become a career politician. 😆
Wake Up People! Many Rivers to cross.....
I wonder which state he'll try for in 2016??
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won't need to... he'll be two years into his first term as the newest nh senator. shaheen is toast.
@Wake up, 8 states in addition to Michigan who have banned affirmative action are: Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska,New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington....not exactly the front line of Jim Crow politics. The victim card would play much more effectively if these states were in the Old South, but alas, that is not the case. Also, this isn't just about African-Americans, quite obviously.
--GOP will lose heavily this time, just like Nate Silver, here my prediction.
@just asking... What color is the sky in your world?
Wake Up People! Many Rivers to cross.....
It seems the MSM is in love with this guy. Scared of real work so just become a career politician
-–
Quite amusing coming from a supporter of the Clinton Political Oligarchy!! AKA...."Family business".... Sounds alot like the mafia if you ask me.
"@just asking... What color is the sky in your world?"
You have to tell him what color it is in your world first so he knows what to say to disagree with you. Such is the way of reactionaries.
Brown is a stubborn fellow. He knows the history and negative karma of the building, but he decides to forge ahead anyway. Kind of like battling against Obamacare. He knows that people want better healthcare. He knows people need better healthcare, but he continues to fight better healthcare anyway.
Yolanda it's just the beginning. It will snowball and soon we blacks will have no rights.
James Crow Jr esq. Jim Crow in a business suit instead of a sheet and hood.
Actually Yolanda if you google the most racist states Michigan tops many in the south. I think it's #5.....nothing but a bunch of wealthy bigots.
Just spewing lies President Romney approves this message.😳
Brown will blow it early (he's already palling around with the hedge fund crowd- he's the biggest recipient of their campaign largess). My bet is he'll be somewhere in NH and start talking about Massachusetts..... it's the carpetbaggers' lament.
Dead Bear
@just asking... What color is the sky in your world?
________________________
Black, very, very black.
Scott who?
Talk about irrelevant. Is there such a thing as a Republican anymore? Kinda thought they went the way of the DoDo bird.
So Tim, where is the better healthcare? It is not the Affordable Health Care Act.
Scott Brown is a LOSER !
No one from New Hampshire wants a LOSER from Massachusetts coming up here telling them what's good or not good for their state.
Why would anyone in New Hampshire want this LOSER representing them in Washington. That's just insane!
I hope I'm allowed to tell this story...
Sunday afternoon my car broke down in the middle of a 4 lane street in the burbs. A car pulled up at the light and the passenger started talking to me. I asked did he have jumper cables and he said no. As soon as the light turned green the coward came out of the closet and yelled "We don't help insert slur". After being on this blog for the past 5 years nothing surprises me so I just smiled. A few minutes later a young white guy pulled up and offered to help and got me out of the street. I will never forget his kindness. I gave him a huge hug and shook his hand!
Thank you Will!
I thought that was where people always have Nightmares, or where Freddy used to live.
Wake up,
I'm just bummed that you think that little of your fellow Americans. You appear to be saying that we have not progressed as a nation and that just saddens me that you harbor such resentment.
rs
Dead Bear
@just asking... What color is the sky in your world?
________________________
Black, very, very black.
-–
Left always bringing race into discussions...
Tom please try walking a mile in my shoes. Progress please. Regress yes. You could NEVER understand.