Kerry stumps for Hodes in Nashua tonight

By Michael J. Bailey, Globe Staff

Senator John F. Kerry may be known for his calm, cool demeanor, but Paul Hodes is looking to the Massachusetts Democrat to help spark his campaign to replace the retiring Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, in the US Senate.

Kerry will join Hodes, a two-term congressman, and a state firefighters group at a Nashua rally tonight to start Hodes’s “Turn Up the Heat on Washington’’ tour, according to Hodes’s campaign. Hodes plans to join the firefighters at a series of similar events around the state before the Nov. 2 election against the GOP nominee, former attorney general Kelly Ayotte.

Also today, Hodes’s campaign said the National Rifle Association has given him an "A" rating for backing Second Amendment rights. Hodes has long prided himself on being a guns rights advocate, a key quality in a state that's big on hunting and personal liberties.

Hodes has trailed Ayotte in the most recent polls, with a WMUR Granite State Poll late last month showing Ayotte holding a lead of 50 percent to 35 percent for Hodes.

Ayotte's campaign said the Kerry visit was another example of the "liberal Democratic establishment'' attempting to bolster Hodes.

"From insulting voters, to avoiding taxes on his yacht, John Kerry has consistently proven himself to be completely out-of-touch with reality,'' New Hampshire Republican Party Communications Director Ryan Williams said in a statement. "In the Senate, Hodes would stand with entrenched politicians like John Kerry, instead of standing up for the traditional New Hampshire values of limited taxation and smaller government."