New Hampshire Senate candidates traded jabs on Oct. 21 in a head-to-head matchup that was both focused and decorous.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the Democratic incumbent, faced Republican nominee and former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown in a match moderated by Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd.
The candidates’ exchanges didn’t stray far from what one might expect — Ebola, abortion, immigration, and Shaheen’s record of voting with President Obama — but that didn’t keep the contenders from occasionally drawing whoops from an excited-sounding crowd.
The very first question in the debate was about Ebola. Brown directed his criticism almost exclusively to Obama, even praising Shaheen after she cited her experience handling anthrax threats when she was governor of New Hampshire. The Republican focused more on criticizing the president than his opponent, which may be a fruitful strategy in a state where Obama’s approval ratings are underwhelming.
The moment most likely to become fodder for Republicans may be when Shaheen struggled to answer a question on her support for the president. When panelist Alison King of NECN asked Shaheen if she would answer yes or no to a pollster’s question on whether she approved of President Obama, Shaheen balked a bit.
“In some ways I approve, in some ways I don’t approve,” she said.
Bank on that one showing up in campaign ads.
Shaheen drew applause later in the evening during answers about questions on abortion. Brown has worked hard to emphasize that despite being a Republican, he’s pro-choice. He reiterated as much in the debate, but added that he opposes partial-birth abortion.
“I believe and I trust women to make their own reproductive health care decisions,” Shaheen responded, adding that she trusts women “one hundred percent of the time.”
