Given that this year's election is a rematch between Shaheen and Sununu and that the validity of Sununu's "victory" in 2002 is questionable at best, Shaheen seems to be the stronger candidate in the New Hampshire Senate Race. Her support for middle class tax cuts, a stronger, more robust public education system, and her goal to lower the cost of health care are all major issues that have left the majority of New Hampshire citizens (if not quite a few Americans) skeptical of any Republican platform.

That is a very heavy "If" in regards to Sununu's being convinced to vote in favor of beginning to withdraw our troops from Iraq. Granted, while Sununu's opposition to the Patriot Act and his support for clean energy are strong (and refreshing) stands by a Republican Senator, the impact of our continued involvement in Iraq is and will continue to have a dramatic impact on our economic ability to pursue clean energy and improve our current domestic economic crisis. Jeanne Shaheen supports the efforts towards Clean Energy and she is also against a prolonged U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Both candidates in the tight U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire have ties to the Middle East. Incumbent Senator John E. Sununu has Lebanese and Palestinian heritage from his father's side, former three-term governor John H. Sununu, who was also White House Chief of Staff for President George H.W. Bush. Former Gov. Sununu was the only U.S. governor to oppose a resolution among governors to repeal an anti-Israeli United Nations resolution that "Zionism Equals Racism." He later reversed himself.

Bill Shaheen, husband of former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and a former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, also has Lebanese heritage and family ties to the Middle East. A former state chairman for the campaigns of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Shaheen has expressed interest in being part of a negotiating team to bring peace to the Middle East if Democrats win the White House.

The scandal involving the jamming of Shaheen 2002 Seante Campaign's phone lines in the Manchester area continues to damage the New Hampshire Republican Party (see link). Caught playing dirty on Election Day 2002, the state GOP lost two Congressinal seats in the 2004 election and two men went to federal prison. The ironic point about the phone jamming of Shaheen's get-out-the-vote effort is that Sununu won that election by 20,000 votes, while the two-hours of phone jamming prevented 800 phone calls. Sununu still would have won by more than 19,000 votes. Voters still angry over this illegal behavior, both Repulican and Democrat, may give Shaheen the edge in this rematch, even though there is no evidence that Sununu was involved.

On Monday of this week (August 11th), both Shaheen and Sununu released statements in support of tax incentives for energy developers and users of clean energy in hopes that these breaks will help to invigorate our economy and eventually lower gas and oil prices.

Although both of the candidates are very closely aligned in regards to clean energy policies and initiatives, Sununu is strongly in favor of lifting the ban on offshore drilling while Shaheen claims that the oil companies need to continue drilling on the lands they have already leased.

She opposes the congressional trend of resorting to the oil industries to determine effective legislation on energy policies and is firmly committed to investing more in efforts to develop alternative and renewable resources apart from oil. A commitment to unchaining our economic dependence on the oil industry will provide long-term opportunities and benefits to our economic stability and progress, our national security, and the preservation of the environment.

In a rematch from 2002, former Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen again challenges Republican John E. Sununu to represent New Hampshire in the United States Senate. Sununu, the youngest U.S. Senator at age 44, is a close ally of the Republican nominee for president, Senator John McCain. Polling has consistently shown Shaheen in the lead, with the current Rasmussen poll showing a tightening race, 51% to 45% for Sununu.

What we need in office is someone who will stand up for what is right to do scientifically. Sununu could have overturned the vote for President Bush's veto of embryonic stem cell research, but accepted the Presidents decision instead.

This country frequently has an abundance of money, life, and know how, and losing 7 years of ingenuity in any one scientific field is a travesty. We should be moving forward on many planes, and be discovering new technologies to utilize. Shaheen has come out to say she will.

Jeanne Shaheen has had the experience of working as an Governor. Does the experience within the executive branch translate into success in a bipartisian matter. She claims to have developed a biparitisian energy policy. With the Senator not expected to reach a 60 vote majority for either party will she prove able to partner in bipartisian solution to problems

Sen. Sununu's Campaign manager has admitted to receiving illicit funds for their running in the election, but has only agreed to donate a portion of it to charity. Former Governor Shaheen has called for the entirety of the illicit contributions to be returned to the correct people or donated. I tend to agree with her.

Barrack Obama slightly leads McCain in the State of New Hampshire. Can Jeanne Shaheen reap benefit from this lead. Janne Shaheen is polling ahead of independence which is the population that McCain and Obama has been courting.

Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has made a pledge on her campagin website to support the middle class. This includes positive educational reforms, fair taxatin and health care reform. will her plans help the middle class

Governor's typically make better Presidential bids than Senators. If Shaheen can do a cleaner job than Sunnunu and exercise better fiscal judgement about things like, the war -you are looking at a very close race. The two are virtually the same on many issues. While Sunnunu grabbed his chance to call for Alberto Gonzalez's resignation, he can't quite get Abramoff's stink off. Scandal has nipped at Sunnunu's heels during his current tour in the U.S. senate. While Sunnunu's stance on civil liberties has been on the progressive side -I think Shaheen should have a shot at representing what she knows is on New Hampshire's radar. Civil liberties is considered a given for the Live Free or Die State.

Shaheen is most definitely a progressive when it comes to federal programs and medical research. She openly supports a new policy in Washington for stem cell research and hopes that New Hampshire will benefit from new medical breakthroughs in progressive science. She is unabashedly and passionately for a positive turnabout in the medical community to assist cancer patients without much hope in an area where money and time has been long diverted in the name of morality and religious ethics.

Shaheen: "These lines of research could hold the key to cures for diabetes, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries – they could impact the lives of families like ours all across the country. We have already lost seven years in the development of potential treatments and cures – we can't afford to lose any more time. But we're not going to see a change in stem cell research policy until we change Senators. "

There's a lot of media spculation going around as to whether or not Jeanne Shaheen supports unionization or the Employee Free Choice Act which would allow union members of NH organizations to vote on issues separate from their company. Sununu's campaign supporters are trying very hard to paint a black picture of Sheehan by misusing the legislation to cover all workers' rights in the ballot box. But how can they even think this to be possible when the head of the Letter Carrier Union in New Hampshire, Wayne Alteriso, calmly affirms her good intentions and union support?

Does this sound like muddy politics to anyone else, or is it just another example of a disgruntled candidate trying to confuse Joe-Voter?

Jeanne Shaheen of course. We cannot get our country out of this Republican mess by just electing Obama. We must send a Democratic congress.

Bush and Chaney have dug such a deep hole I don't think we can get out in my lifetime.

In a recent independent poll conducted last week, Democratic Jeanne Shaheen has widened her lead over the incumbent Senator John Sununu to a margin of 51% over 40%.

The increase of support for Shaheen in one of the more conservative states in the New England region reflects a noticeable trend in New Hampshire voters leaning towards Obama. The latest Rasmussen Report has Obama's previous 11-point lead over McCain in the state declining to a mere 1 percentage point over John McCain.

New Hampshire, as has been already stated, has a crucial independent vote that (some argue) will most likely be favoring the Democrats this year. If this is in fact the case, it will be very interesting to see how this all pans out in the Senate race where Sununu finds himself facing a possible upset as his seat has been deemed "the most endangered" on Capital Hill.

The biggest difference between Shaheen and Sununu are the issues of taxes and education. In the face of educational crisis, Shaheen went against her previous commitment to not create any new taxes in order to help schools.

Shaheen's work as a state senator and governor provide ample experience for the Senate. She also worked well in a bi-partisan atmosphere, when she served as Democratic governor to a Republican majority.

Shaheen would be good a addition to the Senate Health and Education committees. Jeanne Shaheen would have a different approach than John Sununu, without lacking legislative background.

In 2007, Sen. Sununu voted against a proposition to have our troops removed from Iraq more expediently (Levin Amdt. No. 2898) Former Governor Shaheen, while she did support sending the troops over in the first place, feels that they should be removed expediently, and while still protecting their security. These are issues she brings up on her own personal website.

Sununu, however, has gone on the record saying he does not even want to setup a timetable for troop removal, and wants to continue the war effort currently.

Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is likely to benefit from the greater passion Democrats feel for their candidates this election year than the lukewarm enthusiasm that Republican voters feel for their candidates. During the New Hampshire Primary earlier this year, nearly 50,000 more voters participated in the Democratic Primary than in the Republican Primary for President. In a state with just a half-million regular voters in national elections, those numbers are a big advantage for Senate challenger Shaheen and Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama. Since New Hampshire's famous independents seem to be favoring Democrats this year, and the presidential race drives voter turnout, Senator John Sununu has a huge gap to close.

The New York Times suggests the New Hampshire Senate race between incumbent Republican John Sununu (R) and his Democratic rival Jeanne Shaheen (D) "a near-perfect petri dish for how the issues, and the dynamics of the presidential contest, are shifting in ways that give Republicans hope."

Shaheen has led in the polls in New Hampshire for the better part of the past year and she is aiming to capitalize on Sununu's ties to the Bush Administration as well as his endorsement of it's tax policies to hold that lead all the way to the ballot boxes in November.

Both candidates are picking up the pace with television ads this past week and don't expect them slow down. Sununu has a reported $5 million campaign purse that he has only begun to delve into and Shaheen is likely receiving ample contributions from the Democratic Party who realize that her victory in New Hampshire will mark a significant extension of their current 51 to 49 vote majority in the Senate.

Sununu is banking on the energy issue to build himself a substantial talking point advantage over Shaheen whom he claims, "won't do nuclear...won't lift the ban on offshore drilling...won't pursue oil shale..." and "that's wrong."

Nonetheless, the Republican senator's attack is a stretch as Shaheen has stated that she is not wholly against some additional drilling.

Look for the energy issue to climb it's way higher and higher in the New Hampshire Senate race (as with all the other New England races) as voters' concerns increase as they face high fuel prices and devastating heating costs in their homes.

Sununu is pushing offshore drilling and Shaheen has urged for more federal spending to help put a cap on the escalating oil prices.

After defeating her Democratic challenger, Ray Stebbins, in Tuesday's primaries, Jeanne Shaheen (D) continued right back into her main arsenal against her rival John Sununu (R) (who defeated Rep. Tom Alciere the same day) by drawing the tightest parallels possible between Sununu and the Bush Administration.

She claimed, "If folks want to continue the status quo, then they want to support John Sununu, because he has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time," Shaheen said in a phone interview. "He has supported the policies that have gotten us to where we are today."

Sununu responded by backing his record, which he argued still shows effective legislation passed despite the well-known fact that Washington "is broken." He pointed to his opposition of the Patriot Act (a proposal of the Bush Administration) and also criticized that Shaheen's stance against offshore drilling will "resign ourselves to permanently higher energy prices."

Jeanne Shaheen (D) wrote and published a statement in the Union Leader yesterday detailing her economic vision if elected to the United States Senate.

She cites the unemployment rise to 6.1% and that the U.S. economy has lost up to 600,000 jobs since January. She reiterates that wages are at a standstill and that the conditions will continue to worsen if we persist with our current economic direction.

As predicted, Shaheen is proposing a "new economic direction in this country [...] one where working families' interests - not the special interests - come first."

She proceeds to characterize incumbent Republican Sen. John Sununu as a stalwart Bush support, even going so far as to label the Republican's term in the Senate "the Bush-Sununu era" during our federal government has engaged in "reckless, irresponsible spending that has doubled our national debt to $9 trillion and exploded the deficit."

She vows to break from the current administration's fiscal approach and "demand real accountability and a return to balanced budgets through pay-as-you-go budgeting. I will fight to put an end to the no-bid contracts that shower billions of dollars on companies that fail to perform. And I will work to ensure the Iraqis pay their own bills with the billions they earn in oil revenue rather than relying on billions of our taxpayer dollars."

She echoes the "Manhattan-style project" catch phrase that is gaining traction amongst politicians on both sides of the partisan line when discussing the specifics of how they are planning to improve the economy when she states, "We need a Manhattan-style project that brings together the public and private sectors to move us toward energy independence and addresses both the short-term high prices and our long-term energy needs."

She is still persistent against offshore drilling and opts for drilling on pre-leased land already available to oil companies.

She plans to cut the tax breaks that are currently being enjoyed by the oil companies and redirect the money to "make an unwavering commitment to the development of alternative and renewable energy sources."

The message here from Shaheen is a typical one from a Democratic candidate at this point in the race. Yet, I think it's worth noting that she has yet to bend on her opposition to offshore drilling (a move a lot of Democrats are now making or are leaning towards as more and more polls show voters' support of lifting the ban.)

While (like most political platforms) it boils down to competing theories on how to achieve the same goal, Shaheen's article in the Union Leader is a great snapshot of her stances on our economy and how it relates to the energy crisis, health care, and education.

I think that Gov. Shaheen has done a great job as Governer and will bring about the change that Senator Sununu has failed to deliver to date in his role as Senator.

The polling season has picked up speed as we embark on the final six weeks before the elections. The New Hampshire campaigns between Jeanne Shaheen (D) and John Sununu (R) are favorite targets of the pollsters as many consider this Senate election a microcosm of the national political environment.

The latest poll released by the American Research Group showed Shaheen with a commanding 12 point lead over John Sununu (at 52 to 40 percent and an undecided margin of 8 percent.)

The poll surveyed 600 potential voters, 42% of which were independents, 30% Republicans, and 28% Democrats. The people surveyed were surveyed twice and to ensure they were potential voters. Once this was established, they were asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how likely they were to vote in November. If they answered between 7 and 10, they were included in the poll's results to guarantee an efficient conclusion as to the nature of the voting climate in New Hampshire.

While Shaheen's lead is demanding, it is not an insurmountable advantage for Sununu to surpass. According to Dick Bennett of the ARG, ""If Sununu captured the same number of independents that McCain has, the race would be almost tied. Sununu may have stood against the Republican Party a few times, but he still isn't known as someone who pokes George Bush and the Republican Party in the eye."

I can't say that Shaheen was the best governor in NH, but she did get the tough on crime when there was a police officer killed in NH. And although her campaign ads bug me--the walking back and forth of Sununu with Bush--the Democrat ads push the fact that Sununu is not doing a thing for the people of NH. That is pretty graphic stuff.

John Sununu's (R) best chance of maintaining his seat against Jeanne Shaheen (D) in November is (I'd argue) contingent on exactly how well the Senator can distance himself from the Bush Administration between now and November. And last weeks market failures combined with the bailout to be decided upon (hopefully) this weekend, Sununu has quite the gamut laid out for him.

It also doesn't help that he "Voted Four Times Against a Commission to Investigate How Federal Contracts in Iraq Were Awarded...[Senate Vote #228, 9/14/05; Senate Vote #259, 10/19/05; Senate Vote #316, 11/10/05; Senate Vote #176, 6/20/06]", according to Alex Reese, press secretary for the NHDP's Coordinated Campaign.

Moreover, as a Senator, Sununu never addressed or questioned the millions of mismanaged relief funds after Hurricane Katrina, the $1 trillion in unaccounted military spending by the Pentagon, or the billions of dollars in no-bid contracts endorsed by the Bush Administration.

With the economy at the top of voters' concerns and no sign of that fact changing in the near future, Sununu needs to hit the trail hard explaining how he will be "different" in regards to fiscal policy this time around in a way that can convince his base much less undecided voters to cast their ballots his way.

Jeanne Shaheen (D) is drawing a hard line against the bailout plan while at the same time admitting that the economic circumstances demand a plan to put a check on the decline we are seeing in our markets.

She said today, "Well you know I was hopeful that we were going to see congress act in a bipartisan way to address additional oversight for the Treasury secretary and for financial institutions and more taxpayer protection. But what we saw is that they added on things like help for Puerto Rican rum makers and for kid’s arrows --millions of dollars. And I think that’s what people are upset about Washington.”

The talking heads of her Republican opponent have taken issue with the fact that Shaheen (who is running her campaign on the coattails of Barack Obama) is vehemently criticizing Sununu's vote in support of the bailout while Barack Obama and Joe Biden also voted in favor of the bailout.

Their word against Shaheen, "For her to sit there and say she’d vote against the alternative minimum tax fix, which 93 senators voted for just the other day, this is retarded. She’s is running for United State Senator, she’s a former Governor. She cannot get away with this dodge and weave which a challenger probably has the luxury of doing."

Two of the more recent poll results are showing Shaheen's lead over Republican Sen. John Sununu holding fast if not increasing.

A poll conducted for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College by Abt SRBI in New York City has Shaheen leading 49 percent to Sununu's 35 percent.

The latest Rasmussen results have her up 50 percent to 45 percent.

The stability and/or increase of support behind Shaheen illustrates the mounting problems Republicans are having gaining voter support subsequent to the market fallouts of the past few weeks.