Binnie Under Fire From Conservative Group

As he seeks to make up ground in the New Hampshire Senate primary against ex-AG Kelly Ayotte (R), businessman Bill Binnie (R) has come under fire from a group questioning his conservative credentials. The group, Cornerstone Action, is currently up with a new TV ad and has been aggressively seeking to help Ayotte emerge as the GOP nominee.

According to Cornerstone exec. dir. Kevin Smith, the TV ad buy is $125K and the spot is scheduled to run through early next week.

So just what is Cornerstone Action? The group's website says, "We believe that the traditional family is the fundamental building block of any healthy society, and as such, deserves to be protected and strengthened."

"In 2005, [we] launched Cornerstone Action, which did all of the issue advocacy and legislative advocacy work," said Smith, in an interview with Hotline OnCall. "We are affiliated with both the Family Research Council in Washington and also Focus On The Family in Colorado."

Cornerstone is not alone in arguing that Binnie is not conservative enough. When Sarah Palin (R) endorsed ex-AG Kelly Ayotte (R) last month, she took a shot at Binnie in the process, calling him a "self-funded millionaire running with an R next to his name."

The attacks on Binnie suggest a couple of things. First, Binnie is the only remaining GOP threat to Ayotte. His personal wealth has allowed him to infuse his campaign with extra cash, which in turn has enabled him to churn out a steady stream of TV ads as he seeks to build his name ID. While Ayotte leads, Binnie has a firm hold on second place according to most polls, and has at times put himself within striking distance of the GOP front-runner.

Binnie has thus far focused his campaign squarely on jobs and the economy. But as he now finds himself playing defense against criticism of his conservative credentials, he will have to prepare an effective response to have any shot at catching Ayotte. What form such a response will take is not yet clear, though it would not be surprising to see more of Binnie's money at work in the form of a TV or radio ad that seeks to counter-punch the claims being made as the race heads down the home stretch.

The Binnie campaign responded to Cornerstone's criticism Wednesday with a letter accusing Ayotte of coordinating with the group. The letter, from Binnie counsel Michael Toner points out that Smith has a relationship with Ayotte. Smith and Ayotte both served in ex-Gov. Craig Benson's (R) administration.

Toner goes on to claim that the Binnie campaign has "reason to believe" a former Ayotte campaign staffer may have been involved with providing footage to Cornerstone that was used in a TV ad. "The Binnie Campaign further has reason to believe that a former Ayotte Campaign employee, Harold Parker, filmed some of the footage that appears in Cornerstone Action's advertisement," wrote Toner, to Ayotte mgr. Brooks Kochvar.

Toner's letter concludes with the threat of legal action, including filing a "complaint with the FEC and requesting that the FEC conduct a thorough investigation of this matter."

Kochvar responded that the footage was in the public domain, and denied any coordination with Cornerstone. He pointed out that another GOP candidate in the race -- atty Ovide LaMontagne (R) -- was endorsed by Cornerstone chair Shannon McGinley. "To claim that we are coordinating with an organization that is led by someone who is actively working against our campaign is not only illogical, but untrue," wrote Kochvar. While McGinley has made an endorsement, the group as a whole has not.

"The video in question has clearly been available online to the public for months and anyone with a computer and Internet access could download the video," Kochvar said.

"It's completely baseless," added Smith. "Every so often there were governor and council items that Kelly and I would have to discuss." He added that he now speaks to Ayotte "now and then."