Concord Monitor - Shaheen Trail Blitz Starts with Energy

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By: Meg Heckman

Former governor Jeanne Shaheen lunched with the Concord Rotary Club yesterday, part of a post-Labor Day campaign blitz she hopes will help unseat first-term Republican Sen. John Sununu.

Their race, a redo of the 2002 election, has intensified over the summer and is gaining national attention. Two examples yesterday were the New York Times reporter scribbling notes near the buffet table and questions from voters about television ads sponsored by out-of-state organizations.

About 100 Rotarians packed into the conference room at Concord's Cat 'N Fiddle restaurant, feasting on jambalaya, salads and pasticcio pudding. During her remarks, Shaheen, a Democrat, focused on energy policy, describing how she believes developing green technologies can create jobs and help the economy. The world, she said, is on the verge of a huge industrial shift, and the United States must be at the forefront.

"Millions of jobs will be created," she said. "The question is where will those jobs go?"

Shaheen criticized Sununu for voting against legislation that would have extended tax credits for alternative energy and energy efficiency, something that she says risked jobs and private investment. Shaheen accused him of siding too often with President Bush, powerful corporations and Wall Street speculators Shaheen says artificially drive up the price of oil.

Many New Hampshire companies, Shaheen said, are experimenting with new energy resources, including wood ethanol and wind and solar power. Businesses, she said, create jobs, but the government needs to give them a hand.

"Unfortunately, we're not seeing the kind of action that we need to from the federal level," she said.

Her speech carried themes similar to a new ad her campaign released this week, one that Republicans quickly rebutted. In a written statement, party Chairman Fergus Cullen said Shaheen advocates "the same tired, failed energy policies of the 1970s that made our country more dependant on foreign oil."

Sununu, who is skipping the Republican National Convention in Minnesota to campaign, is also in the middle of a busy week. Campaign staffers dismissed Shaheen's claims, pointing to what they say are some of Sununu's own efforts to improve energy policy: He supported legislation last fall that increased fuel economy standards and co-sponsored a bill that included tax credits for wood pellet stoves.

After her speech, Shaheen fielded questions from Rotarians who were more curious about television ads than energy. One man asked about a series of commercials attacking Shaheen for her support of a bill known as the Employee Free Choice Act, which would amend the rules for how unions are organized. Another voter wanted to know why those ads, and some others, are so negative.

Shaheen said she's "frustrated" by the commercials and estimates that out-of-state organizations have spent about $2 million attacking her candidacy. She understands why they're part of the race.

"They work," she said. "They have an impact. I hope this year people will ignore those political ads."

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