Charlie Bass Stumps at the Dump [VIDEO]

The candidates talk about finding common ground. Is there a ground more common than the town dump?

And so, on a Saturday 10 days from Election Day, Patch caught up with U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) at the Northwood town dump as he and supporters waved to and chatted up residents going to the transfer center and swap shop. 

In an interview, Bass spoke of working across the aisle to try to get things done, citing his co-sponsoring of a bipartisan budget plan as an example. 

"I'm running for Congress because I believe America cannot afford any more of this partisan bickering and fighting, brinkmanship, gotcha debates," he said. He called his opponent, Ann McLane Kuster, the Democrat who nearly upset him in 2010, a "hyper-partisan Democrat."

Bass also blasted some of the attack ads that claim he was for abolishing Social Security and Medicare.

"It's a sad commentary on the political process that any candidate would stoop to that kind of level just to win an election," Bass said.

Of course, there are numerous ads attacking both Bass and Kuster. As they campaign around the state, "Washington gridlock" is a familiar theme. Kuster, during a tour of Cirtronics in Milford last week, told employees that the partisanship on Capitol Hill was rendering the Congress ineffective at times. She said,

"What I hope to bring to the table is an ability to find common ground. I'm not going to be concerned about whether ideas are Republican or Democrat. I'm going to be concerned about whether they are good for the people of New Hampshire."

It's a subject that may come up again Tuesday night, a week from Election Day, when Bass and Kuster participate in the WMUR debate.

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