As newly elected legislators step into office, two long-time leaders in the New Hampshire Senate are taking a step back. Senate President and Republican Jeb Bradley and Democratic Sen. Lou D’Allesandro are retiring this year after decades of political service each.
NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley joined both senators in the State House to reflect on their careers in office.
Transcript
Rick Ganley: Sen. Bradley, we're in your soon-to-be former office. I want to ask you how you're feeling about this chapter in your career in the State House ending at this point. What are you thinking about?
Jeb Bradley: Well, I've had an incredible opportunity and an honor to serve both in the New Hampshire House as a member of Congress and saving the best for last, being a member of the New Hampshire Senate. I think that what I think about are all the things that we've tried to do together, many of them like Medicaid expansion, very bipartisan. Sen. D'Allesandro was a huge part of that. Just a lot of good experiences, a lot of people, but there comes a time and for me, the time has come.
Rick Ganley: Sen. D'Allesandro, I want to ask you the same thing. At this point in your career, what are you thinking about?
Lou D'Allesandro: You know, I'm thinking about the first day I came here. And it was 1972 I was elected to the House of Representatives. And the unique thing that I take away from here is the fact that I've been able to make some relationships that will last my life, a lifetime. And to me, that's the most significant aspect of public service --- creating relationships. I mean, we don't always agree, but you want to at least engage them. And I've been engaging Bradley on the floor of the Senate, in the president's office when we were in the House together, and we're still here and we're still talking to one another. I don't think that that kind of a spirit exists in the same manner as it did years ago and that bothers me. That bothers me a little bit because we created a relationship. We're still talking after we leave here. There are others who aren't in that same category. To me, that's a disaster.
Rick Ganley: Well, let me ask you about that, Sen. Bradley. You know, you both started your careers in very different political environments. You were elected to Congress as a pro-choice Republican. Do you think it's possible for pro-choice Republicans to be elected now?
Jeb Bradley: So I think New Hampshire's actually gotten to a place where the recent election showed that abortion is a lot less of an issue than people realize, because our abortion laws, similar to over 40 other states, we have no restrictions on abortion for the first six months of pregnancy. Gov. elect Ayotte has supported that. A lot of Republicans have accepted that. What we're not going to say is you can have an abortion on demand up until the last moment of pregnancy. The public supports that. And so I think the fact that Sen. Ayotte won so convincingly shows what are the real issues that people are worried about today. They're worried about their jobs. They're worried about the cost of groceries, how they're going to pay the home heating bills, and the economy is what mattered. And so Gov. Ayotte was wildly successful, in my opinion, by focusing on those issues. And those are the issues that people care about. And, you know, I think people are very concerned about the open border policy in Washington. Well, obviously, that's going to change now, too. So yeah, abortion is less of an issue in New Hampshire because we've gotten to -- whether people agree with it completely or not, we've gotten to some middle ground.
Rick Ganley: Sen. D'Allesandro, what do you think about that?
Lou D'Allesandro: I think Sen. Bradley is right about abortion. We played it all wrong. The Democrats reduced life to the lowest common denominator. It's an economic issue. An economic issue means how much does it cost me to feed my family? So think of that and focus on the fact that [the] economy that's the name of the game in our lives. And taking care of people, providing for people, giving them opportunity, I mean, these are the things that count in this life. And I think Democrats missed the boat. We missed the boat.
Rick Ganley: We hear from listeners all the time about looking for politicians who are willing to work across the aisle, work together. I'm sure there are very long sessions and long conversations and debates and arguments. When you walk out of the room and you've got that compromise in place, what do you take away from that?
Jeb Bradley: So at this very table, six of us, we negotiated a compromise on Medicaid expansion after it had failed. And it was controversial. There was no question about that. But it was the right thing to do. And we built support with the business community that really needed it. The hospitals were getting hammered on having to give away free care that then got passed along in a hidden tax to anybody with private insurance. So that was the basis of the compromise on Medicaid expansion. And now here we are 10 years later, there are probably almost 250,000 New Hampshire residents that at one time or another have benefited from it. And many people who have been on Medicaid expansion, it helps them put their lives back together again, and they go on to, you know, a better job with benefits, better pay because they're healthier. In 2014, when we had to sell that, it was a pretty tough sell for people like me. But the Senate voted for that to make it permanent a year ago, 24 to nothing. So 14 Republicans voted for it and 10 Democrats voted for it. So progress happens, but you also have to be willing to take a step by step approach. Sweeping change sometimes happens, but incremental change that leads to a direction where people accept it is a valid way to do it. So I always say, never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Take the good every day, you know?
Rick Ganley: You just answered my last question. My last question was what advice would you have for new lawmakers?
Lou D'Allesandro: Well, I think Jeb puts it clearly. You know, use common sense. Use common sense, and try as hard as you can to get to that center, to get to that point where at least you're talking to one another and going over the issues. Life is all about relationships. If you can't establish relationships, you can't succeed in anything in this life. So my word of wisdom, indeed, is establish a relationship and make them real and make them lasting.
