NASHUA — Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., paid a visit to the Nashua Senior Activity Center Thursday morning, seizing the moment to talk with the members and talk about some of the issues affecting them.

“It won't be long before I qualify to come here myself,” Bass quipped after helping pack lunches alongside local Meals on Wheels volunteers.

Nashua resident Mary Gamble — who was selling 50/50 raffle tickets to benefit Meals on Wheels — told Bass the $2 fare increase for Nashua's senior transit has made the center out of reach for some.

“We'll take a look at it,” Bass said, pledging to work on the issue of senior transportation.

Jeanne Marcoux, the center's executive director, said politicians here are standard fare given the proximity of elections. “Almost everybody comes through and says hello. You know seniors are voters.”

Marcoux said the organization benefits from the attention, particularly when the politicians offer programs and deliver on services.

Along with U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg in 2003, Bass worked with former Nashua Mayor Bernie Streeter to provide federal funds to the center when it needed to expand.

Marcoux said there's an even split between Democratic and Republican voters among the senior center's 2,000-plus members. If the membership were to decide the elections, however, being in Nashua, Marcoux guessed it would swing blue.

The visit was Bass' third, and he was received warmly by the painters, quilters, librarians, staff and volunteers as they went about their work. Bass' Nashua aide, Jane Hirsch Bosse, visits the center once a month.

“Elected officials are most effective when they listen,” Bass said after the tour.

Joe Goodman, who heads the center's board of directors, interjected, “After you listen, then you attempt to do. That's where it's at.”

Bass agreed. “I'm just trying to get the pulse of my constituents.”

Asked what he has over his challenger, Annie Kuster, in the eyes of seniors, Bass said his record in Congress warrants his return.

“I feel that Republicans and Democrats have very adequately and articulately stated their positions and principles,” Bass said.

Bass touted his role as one of the four Republican sponsors of the Simpson Bowles Plan on deficit reduction, a bipartisan effort that ended this March in a resounding bipartisan defeat.

“We got 38 votes (to 382), and my opponent characterized the effort as pathetic. Well, that's exactly what we want to get beyond in the Congress, and I'm dedicating this campaign and the rest of the term to working across the aisle to start resolving these problems.”

Bass underlined the importance of working together.

“Compromise is not a capitulation, and I think we need a little more of that in Washington. Both sides love the battle, and want to win. We're going to win by sitting down and coming up with a plan that reduces spending on some ratio to combine with a tax reform,” Bass said.

Citing the budget proposal of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Bass concluded that this can be done by increasing revenue by a four-to-one ratio with decreased spending.

“There are only 38 other people in Congress that are willing to do that, and I think that is the kind of leadership that we need.”

srios@newstote.com