Bass Defends Kuster Video Tracker

On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman Charles Bass (R-N.H.) addressed the flap over his Democratic opponent, Ann McLane Kuster, grabbing a camera away from a Bass staffer who was filming her at an event last weekend.

Bass spoke to Patch Wednesday afternoon about after he visited Pat's Key & Lock in Salem and said the constant video tracking of candidates has become a "sad reality" but also "the way of life" in campaigning today.

When asked if he condoned the actions of the staffer, Bass said, "we do exactly what all other campaigns do," noting he gets tracked nearly every day and has ever since he re-joined Congress in Jan. 2011.

"It is the way it has been going for a decade," he said.

Bass said Kuster's reaction in this case was "a little bit unexpected."

Scott Tranchemontagne, a spokesman for the Bass campaign, earlier Wednesday said there are "certainly several people that canvass such events with cameras on behalf of the Kuster campaign" and called this incident "unusual" because of Kuster's reaction.

In a statement, Kuster accused Bass' campaign of "political bullying" and said she "won't let it intimidate me or my campaign in New Hampshire."