It seems that as New Hampshire Attorney General, Kelly Ayotte wasn't just thinking about running for Senate or for governor. She also had her eye on the House.
In a particularly crass move, Ayotte exchanged these emails with Robert Varsalone, one of her political advisors, in late October 2006. After Varsalone wrote to Ayotte highlighting the probability that Republican incumbent Charlie Bass would be defeated, Ayotte replied:
Have you been following the last 2 Weeks. A police officer was klilled and I hannounced that I would seek the death penalty.
Varsalone's response?
I know, I read about it. Where does AG Ayotte stand on the Death Penalty? BY THE SWITCH.
Now, I'm not saying that Kelly Ayotte wanted a police officer to be murdered. I'm just saying that when one was, her response was to consider it in terms of her political ambitions. Appearing on Hardball, Paul Hodes similarly made the case that the emails showed Ayotte's ruthless self-interest.
Ayotte's campaign would have us believe that she was so focused on the murder that she brought it up to deflect Varsalone from political talk. That would be a thin excuse even if it weren't for this (via an emailed statement from the Hodes campaign):
However, news broke today that there are more emails between Ayotte and Varslone from the same period, discussing Ayotte's political future. Just-released emails show that Ayotte and Varsalone were in close contact just two weeks later to set up meetings to discuss specific statewide data in anticipation of a political run. Ayotte also uses the emails to boast about recent media recognition: "Check out the UL front page from sunday [sic]. Future of the GOP article. Whose name is first??? Me."
Ayotte has led consistently in polling despite a serious decline in her favorability this summer, when, for the first time, her evident vulnerabilities were publicized. Hopefully that wasn't too late, and a new picture of Ayotte has emerged to replace the "unthreatening generic Republican" one she's worked so hard to maintain.