Kuster Fights Back

With U.S. News reporting that “a continuation of Obama's current pattern of approval ratings… [will] not bode well for the Democrats this fall”, and political cartoons everywhere singing the same tune; the time has come for Kuster to put aside her jubilation at last weeks primary victory and get down to business. While surveys show that a majority of Democrats are still in favor of the Obama administration, Kuster has much to prove to Independents who are sitting on the fence as well as Republicans who are using both President Obama’s faults, and his less-than-popular policies to make their case in this mid-term election.

So far, Annie Kuster has relied on her charm and fresh face in politics to gain approval and notoriety in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, but now it seems she is trying to separate herself from being solely associated with the Democratic Party. With her first campaign add (see it here) she both addresses the problems in Washington, saying “it’s a mess”, and lashes out at her opponent Charlie Bass as being “part of the problem”. She responds to Bass’s criticisms from last week by speaking of Bass’s past mistakes in Congress, and portrays herself as having a new approach to local problems. Perhaps most importantly she addresses the hot topic all over the country: jobs. Kuster supports keeping jobs in the U.S. and has fought to end tax cuts for corporations that send jobs overseas.

I must say that after watching Annie Kuster’s campaign add, I see her as a very appealing choice come November. While she is very liberal when it comes to social issues, she seems to realize that not everything that the Democrats have done economically has flown smoothly. But will her stance on jobs and budget be enough to convince independents? After all, the sole goal of candidates in any election is to get elected, and who knows if Kuster will hold true to her promises if she gains this seat in the house.