WASHINGTON -- The morning after his "shellacking," President Barack Obama made an unusual but crucial congratulatory phone call, not to a winning Democratic House candidate but rather to a losing one, and one whom few people outside of her home state know.
Why? Because he was watching his back in a place where, on the off chance he faces a primary challenge in 2012, he will need to hold the line.
The president wanted to shower deserved praise on attorney Ann McLane Kuster for her brilliant, well-financed but (just barely) losing race in New Hampshire's 2nd District against former GOP Rep. Charlie Bass. He also urged her to try again, and pledged his support if she did so -- and she quickly agreed.
"He couldn't have been nicer or more supportive," Kuster told The Huffington Post after the election. "He said that I'd run a great race and that he'd be there for me to try it again if I want to, and I do."
I think Carol Shea-Porter deserves to get that call from the President too, but I'm glad to hear Kuster--and the President--are getting ready for the next round.
