NH: Prominent Democrat Endorses Brown; Polls Show No Frontrunner

This landed in my inbox a few hours ago from the ‘New Hampshire for Scott Brown’ press team (emphasis mine):

Today, Scott Brown received the endorsement of the former Democratic Leader of the New Hampshire State Senate, Bob Preston. Preston, who served nine terms as a State Senator including eight years as Democratic leader, penned the following open letter encouraging voters to support Scott Brown next Tuesday:

This coming election on November 4th is critical and an opportunity to change the direction of this country. Lack of leadership and decision making in Washington makes us look like a rudderless ship on domestic and international waters. It is time to change. …

With all due respect to Senator Shaheen, she has not been able to address these problem and has gone along to get along with President Obama increasing the budget deficit until each American family is not in debt nationally in excess of $150,000. Mrs. Shaheen served the state of New Hampshire well as state senator and governor, and I commend her for that. However, her blind allegiance to the Obama administration has resulted in the problems our nation faces today.

“I believe his public service, his many years in the military, and a family person himself qualify him to be our next U.S. Senator,” Preston added. “I sincerely believe his common sense and independence in Washington will be better for New Hampshire and our nation. I believe his leadership and decision-making will change the course of this country for the better.”

This open letter reaffirms why some New Hampshire Democrats are growing jittery and abandoning ship – namely, they can’t stand Sen. Shaheen’s partisan record. She votes with President Obama roughly 99 percent of the time, and yet she represents a state that is fiercely independent. This is exactly why Team Brown has a new ad out today entitled -- you guessed it -- “Independence”

“To change direction, we need to change Senators.”

Meanwhile, from a polling standpoint, the race is too close to call. The American Research Group, Inc. has Shaheen up by one (49/48), while New England College has Brown up by the same margin (48/47).

Besides North Carolina, this might be the closest Senate contest in the country. Seven days.