Sunday November 02, 2008
By: Michael McCord
From: Portsmouth Herald
In a typical election year, John Vivinetto of New Durham might be inclined to support Republican Sen. John Sununu is his re-election bid against former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. Vivinetto, a commercial airline pilot, is a registered Republican who twice voted for President Bush.
But this is not a typical election year. Vivinetto talked to a reporter at a campaign event for Shaheen last week. Sitting with his wife, Peggy, herself a retired airline pilot, Vivinetto is thinking Democratic this year — he's planning to support Shaheen and "I'm leaning towards Obama."
For the Vivinetto family, the issue is clear.
"We do need the change," John Vivinetto said. "Anybody but Republicans."
Vivinetto added he was tired of the corruption in Washington and angry that little has been done to help the middle class, especially when it came to pension protection (Peggy lost a huge portion of her pension when U.S. Air went bankrupt.)
Six years after they first ran against each other in 2002, Shaheen and Sununu are locked in another relatively tight and politically ferocious fight that has become less about specific issues than a personal clash of will and tactics and finances.
The race has drawn in money from both Republican and Democratic parties and outside groups, and could cost more than $40 million and end up to be the most costly in state history.
Madbury resident Shaheen, 61, has benefited from a state that has undergone a dramatic demographic and political makeover since 2002, and is trending stronger Democratic than perhaps at any time in state history.
Waterville Valley resident Sununu, 44, served three terms in the House before his four-point victory over Shaheen in 2002 — a victory that was slightly tainted by a state and national GOP phone-jamming operation on Election Day that led to a federal investigation, convictions of two GOP operatives, and a second indictment for another GOP official.
The bitter history of the 2002 race sits in the background, and as Sununu fights to stay in office.
Shaheen, who served as governor from 1997 to 2003, has a campaign theme calling for a "New Direction" and attacked Sununu endlessly for policies she considers the same as George Bush.
Sununu has fought back by accusing Shaheen of wanting to raise taxes and catering to whatever political wind is blowing. He has also portrayed himself on the campaign trail and television commercials as an independent who has bucked the Republican Party.
What Sununu faces in 2008 is a reverse of what Shaheen confronted in 2002, who tried to run as a moderate Democrat in a Republican state during a year when national security issues topped voter concerns. Sununu was helped from a then-popular President Bush. In 2008, he is hurt by Bush's unpopularity in particular and a deep public disregard for Republicans on the all-important issue of the economy and the country's financial crisis.
"This state is becoming naturally Democratic and that's not good news for John Sununu," said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. "This race is partly personal, but it's also a reflection of the national mood against the Republicans and George Bush. The same is happening in other states and the GOP is taking the bullet."
Smith said Sununu has consistently polled between five and seven points below Shaheen, and he's in dangerous territory as an incumbent who can't get to the 50-percent level.
When asked if Sununu could help himself by distancing himself from Bush, Smith said, "It doesn't really matter."
When the economy began to turn sour and the financial crisis hit in September, the election became a referendum on Sununu, Smith said.
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