The American Spectator

p> PIN THE DONKEY br> Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has stepped in the middle of one of the interesting races in the county: the Senate contest in New Hampshire. Against the advice of the Senate Republican leadership, Hastert ventured up to the Granite State to campaign for his colleague, Rep. John Sununu , who is challenging Republican Sen. Bob Smith for the GOP nomination and the right to run against Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen . “It looks like Sununu is going to pull it out,” says a Republican leadership staffer. “But you never know. We didn’t think it was a good idea for a party leader to travel up there and campaign against a sitting Republican. /p>

But you know “The Coach,” a guy who doesn’t take a lot of advice. The moniker followed Hastert into politics after his earlier career as a high school wrestling coach. And true to his life on the mat, Hastert didn’t shy away from getting into it in New Hampshire. He body slammed Smith for his decision to briefly leave the Republican Party in an ill-advised presidential run in 2000. “I just think John Sununu is a strong, consistent Republican,” Hastert said.

Sununu is favored to win the Republican nomination and polls indicate he would be favored head to head against Shaheen. “It isn’t like Hastert is up there trying to bail out a losing candidate,” says a House leadership staffer. “Sununu has been a loyal soldier for us in the House. Hastert isn’t going to avoid getting into it just because some Senate feelings might get hurt. It’s the Republican senators that wanted Sununu to challenge Smith to begin with.”

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