No Exit?
Are we and Gov. Shaheen in for a surprise come next September? Cited earlier on BH, but from a new article on Katrina Swett in the Monitor:While Marchand has repeatedly said he'll leave the race if Shaheen gets in, Swett's campaign has kept mum on that question. Quinn emphasized Swett's friendship with Shaheen but declined to say whether Swett would exit the race if the former governor entered. And what was that about Marchand?Democrat Steve Marchand is looking more and more like a Senate candidate who doesn't plan to exit the race under any circumstances. His stated position is that if Shaheen gets in, he'll get out.
But Marchand has now hired prominent consulting firms:
-- Media: Tom Ochs and John Lapp of McMahon, Squier, Lapp. Lapp is a former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Ochs handled Dean's race for chair of the DNC.
-- Direct mail: Ed Peavy and Adnaan Muslim of Mission Control, LLC, who worked on Hodes's campaign last year.
-- Polling: Jill Normington of Bennett, Petts and Normington, who has worked for many Democratic House members and candidates. And Jay Buckey made it clear earlier that he's not interested in leaving after a Shaheen announcement.
As much as I would love a positive, competitive primary that would drive down Sununu's chances of winning even further, I remain skeptical of my dream coming true. Though I do note that no issue has been made in the press about a Stephen-Bradley primary in the one race the state elephants (wrongly) think they have a shot at.
No Challenger?
Not yet, anyway, for Paul Hodes. While Carol Shea-Porter has made Karl Roves' super special target list, the head of the RNCC has no takers for the second district so far, according to Granite Status. And Charlie Bass 'aint biting: "I haven't ruled anything out, but, frankly, I think that if the election were held today, the outcome might be worse for me than it was last November. I'm not making any decisions at this point." |
