Dante Scala

Economic uncertainty among voters has given an edge to the Democratic ticket, according to New Hampshire political analysts.

"Certainly the last two weeks have been terrible for the Republican Party from John McCain down," said Dante Scala, UNH professor and PolitickerNH.com columnist, told The Associated Press.

For the truly obsessive-compulsive poll watchers among us (and yes, we're certainly talking to you), Pollster.com has devised a fully interactive Flash chart of all New Hampshire surveys of the presidential race. 

Among other nifty features, the website now allows you to filter out individual pollsters, and then redraws the graphs without those particular data points.

Former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley's name recognition and last minute advertisements were too much for John Stephen to overcome in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary Tuesday, Stephen's campaign manager told PolitickerNH.com.

Bradley defeated Stephen by 1,793 votes. Bradley will now face Democratic U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter in a rematch of their 2006 race.

"Jeb Bradley, as a former congressman, is well known and certainly familiar to the Republican base and in addition to that he really beat us up in the last couple of days," Stephen's Campaign Manager Greg Moore said. "He really ramped up his TV ads the last few days and he just cranked out a couple of harsh ads."

DENVER-Dr. Dante Scala, UNH professor and PolitickerNH.com columnist, said the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) as a running mate a "smart risk."

"It's not a safe pick," Scala said. "Tim Pawlenty would have been a safe pick, Mitt Romney would have been a safer pick but it's a risk."

New Hampshire political analysts are unsure has to the impact that Barack Obama's decision to have Joe Biden as his running-mate will have in the Granite State.

Dean Spiliotes, political analyst at NHPoliticalCapital.com, says Biden could help with independent voters, while Dante Scala, political professor at University of New Hampshire, thinks Biden will unify a generational divide in the Democratic Party.

Editors note: This is a daily summary of news about the U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) and former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury).

Today in the Senate race it was all about op-eds and speeches.

I am proud to announce that Dante Scala, UNH political science professor and New Hampshire political numbers expert, is joining PolitickerNH.com as a regular contributor.

You can find his posts along the light orange contributor column to the right.

In addition to teaching, Scala is the author of the book "Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics". It is a must read for anyone interested in New Hampshire politics.

For the past year he has also run the blog GraniteProf and before that write a popular column on PoliticsNH.com called "By the Numbers".

You can read his first column here.

One reason both campaigns might be running ads now is to get out their initial message, according to University of New Hampshire professor Dante Scala.

"The window for running ads is about to close because of the summer, when most voters aren't paying attention to politics," Scala said. "So you run your ads now then tune-it-down until Labor Day."

Though the ads are local they appeal to national donors who both campaigns will look towards for financial support.

U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) campaign organization, or lack thereof, was the subject of two articles.

The Eagle-Tribune has Paul Collins saying the campaign will open a Manchester office, later this month.

Now that U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) has gained the Republican presidential nomination the debate is over whether or not McCain's presence on the ballot will benefit New Hampshire Republican candidates.

This morning New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen released a statement with the title "McCain Nomination Great News for NH Republicans."