Power Broker Navigates the Currents of Her State
By RICK LYMAN
The New York Times
Published: January 25, 2004
nytimes.com
MANCHESTER, N.H. — No sooner had former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire begun her vote-for-John-Kerry speech than a piercing noise filled the central firehouse's common room. Two dozen firefighters hopped to their feet, clambered aboard their fire engines and zoomed into Merrimack Street, sirens blaring.
"Was it something we said?" Ms. Shaheen asked.
A little over a year since she ended three terms as the first woman elected governor in New Hampshire with a narrow loss to John E. Sununu for the United States Senate, Jeanne Shaheen is back in politics and trying to steer her candidate to victory in the New Hampshire primary.
Ms. Shaheen, who has a reputation for calm moderation in office mixed with an aggressive, take-no-prisoners campaign style, had prospered in New Hampshire by attracting independent voters in races against conservative Republicans. But she faltered in her 2002 race against a more moderate Republican, losing a close, high-profile election that was crucial to Democratic hopes.
So her efforts on behalf of Mr. Kerry, whose campaign has come back from the dead in the last month, may also resurrect Ms. Shaheen's image as a New Hampshire seer, able to navigate the dark waters between the parties in a state that normally leans Republican.
"In a way, she is like the quintessential New Hampshire voter," said Sue Casey, who worked with Ms. Shaheen on Gary Hart's 1984 presidential bid and is now an adviser to the Kerry campaign. "She takes a good hard look at all the candidates and she can be very tough on them when they seek her support. But when she picks someone, it's because she's spotted some quality, some magic. And her political judgment on this score has been uncanny."
In 1976, Ms. Shaheen backed Jimmy Carter, long before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire made him the front-runner. In 1984, she was campaign manager for Mr. Hart in his primary upset over Walter F. Mondale and John Glenn. And in 2000, when early exit polls showed Bill Bradley doing better than expected against her candidate, Al Gore, Ms. Shaheen was credited with organizing an 11th-hour get-out-the-vote drive that helped nudge Mr. Gore to a narrow victory.
"Clearly, she knows the state, she knows the players and she knows what approach works for New Hampshire people," said Sylvia Larsen, the Democratic leader in the State Senate. "She knows where are the places to stop in and who are the people to call."
In this campaign, when her endorsement was eagerly sought by all of the major candidates, she decided in late September — just as Howard Dean was surging — to back Mr. Kerry, whose campaign barely had a pulse at the time.
"I've never worked for anybody who was ahead in the polls when I signed on," Ms. Shaheen said. "So I know what to do."
Often, her unthreatening public demeanor — she was known early in her career as "the Betty Crocker governor," Ms. Larsen said — led people to underestimate her political skills.
"As a campaigner, Jeanne is bare-knuckles," said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. "She was very rough on her opponents, rough to the point that people would accuse her of running dirty campaigns. But she could get away with it, frankly, because she didn't look like the kind of person who would run a dirty campaign."
Riding in the back of a car, answering one cellphone call after another, Ms. Shaheen, 57, made her way through visits on Friday to firehouses around Manchester — the firefighters' union supports Mr. Kerry, and the turnout of its members is considered crucial.
"I wouldn't use the term bare-knuckles," she said. "In a campaign, there are times when you need to point out the differences between you and the other side. I've tried very hard to be accurate in what I've said and not make it personal."
Since Mr. Kerry's come-from-behind victory in Iowa six days ago, everything has changed for the campaign, Ms. Shaheen said. "The phones are ringing off the hook," she said. "People are arriving to volunteer. Money is coming in."
When she first arrived in September, Ms. Shaheen, as national chairwoman, was running the campaign's day-to-day operations, Ms. Casey said. This period culminated in early November with a purge of Mr. Kerry's top staff, including the campaign manager, Jim Jordan, who was replaced by Mary Beth Cahill, a former chief of staff to Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
"It is perfectly clear to me that Jeanne Shaheen grabbed the Kerry campaign by the lapels sometime in October and shook it," said Peter Burling, a Democrat and minority leader in the New Hampshire House. "And you can see the results today."
Clearly, Ms. Casey said, the purge was the campaign's turning point.
And the new team's moves have been remarkably similar to the changes Ms. Shaheen brought to Mr. Gore's lagging New Hampshire campaign in late 1999 — replacing formal, policy-oriented events with more casual, one-on-one encounters with voters.
"Sometimes, it's as simple as deciding that there will be no more podiums, and no more speeches in front of a bunch of rows of chairs," Ms. Casey said. "In New Hampshire, there is only one way to do it, and that is to go one-on-one with voters, as if you are running for city council. Everyone says they understand this, but it's amazing how few candidates actually do it."
New Hampshire voters, Ms. Shaheen said, are notoriously difficult to read, and no lead in the polls can ever be taken for granted.
"Things look a whole lot better than they did a week ago," she said. "But we know voters in New Hampshire are very independent. They're going to make up their own minds on Tuesday, and we're working hard for every vote we can get." |
