The last time we checked in on the race in New Hampshire former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) was leading incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) by five percentage points. That poll, however, turned out to be an outlier, as we suspected at the time. In truth her lead was enormous; several more reliable polls made that pretty clear.
But those days are over, it seems.
A WMUR Granite State poll released by the University of New Hampshire this week shows the race has indeed tightened considerably. Brown now only trails his opponent by single digits:
Since January Brown has nearly sliced his opponent's lead in half and is making significant inroads with Independents. However, a plurality of likely voters are still undecided. Hence why Brown is once again back in his truck canvassing the state and introducing himself to those he hopes to represent:
I listened to Brown on The Howie Carr Show yesterday, a Boston-based radio program with influence in southern New Hampshire. When asked about the People’s Pledge and why he wouldn’t sign it, he claimed there was only one pledge he was willing to make to the people of New Hampshire, and that was to “get rid of Obamacare.” At the same time, he blasted his opponent as a left-wing partisan, claiming she reliably and predictably votes in lock-step with her party more often than Harry Reid. He dismissed charges he was a “carpetbagger,” too, claiming New Hampshirites care much more about the issues -- such as repealing Obamacare and job creation -- than his own ties to the state.
Of course, this seat is by no means an easy Republican pick-up. But the race does appear to be tightening, and Democrats would do well to take notice.