How badly is Stefany Shaheen blowing the early days of her campaign for Congress?
It’s so bad, national political reporters are randomly piling on.
“Dems keep getting poleaxed by this question,” Dave Weigel, who covers politics for Semafor, posted on Twitter/X.
The “question” is whether a Democrat supports allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports. Shaheen was asked for a yes-or-no answer on Jack Heath’s radio show two weeks ago. Shaheen answered that she supported it “on a case-by-case basis.”
On Sunday, WMUR aired an interview with Adam Sexton, who followed up by asking for a specific example. “What would be the situation in which (a biological male) is not allowed to play?”
Shaheen’s answer was less than clear.
“I think that depends. If, as we look at the NCAA, we see that there are requirements in order for them to approve whether athletes can compete. We can look at these situations again on a case-by-case basis and see: Is this appropriate? Is it acceptable? It would depend on the sport. It would depend on the athlete.”
When NHJournal reported on Shaheen’s follow-up fumble, the tweet received more than 460,000 views and inspired commentary from political observers across the country.
“Democrats have placed themselves on the politically losing end of an 80-20 percent issue, and several years later, they still don’t have a cohesive message to talk about it,” NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur wrote in reaction to her answer.
Steven L. Miller, who’s written about politics for The Spectator and Fox News, wrote, “The answer is so simple, but because they’ve backed themselves into a grievance corner by their lunatic base, they can’t answer it.”
In fact, Shaheen’s answer was so bad, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) used it as a template to attack every other Democrat running for Congress, Julia Manchester at The Hill noted.
“[INSERT DEMOCRAT NAME HERE] is for they/them. Not just Kamala Harris… every Democrat is marching in lockstep on this issue,” the NRCC sent out as a statement Monday, with a link to Shaheen’s statement.
And it’s not just boys in girls’ sports. Stefany Shaheen is carving out a niche for herself as the candidate who can’t answer a direct question.
What is her position on illegal immigration? Does she support deporting illegal aliens? Illegals who’ve committed additional crimes? Nobody knows — and don’t bother asking.
Does Shaheen agree with U.S. Sen. John Fetterman that the riots in Los Angeles protesting immigration enforcement are “anarchy and true chaos?” Or is she with the “mostly peaceful” crowd? No clue.
In her latest WMUR interview, Shaheen was asked by Adam Sexton, “Do you consider what Israel is doing in Gaza to be a form of genocide?”
Yes or no, right? Not a chance.
“Let’s be very clear: the reality of what’s happening in Israel and in Gaza is unprecedented. The level of cruelty, the level of destruction, has to stop. The war has to stop. We need a two-state solution.”
Uh, OK.
So, Sexton followed up. “Is Israel committing a genocide?”
“Israel needs — they are our democratic leader in that region of the world. We need very much to be working together to address a two-state solution, and we need to end this cruelty and end this war.”
In a way, you have to admire the discipline. She has to know she sounds like a total weasel squirming out of an answer. But why bother answering a hard question when you’re already named “Shaheen?”
Shaheen is hardly unusual among New Hampshire Democrats when it comes to evading direct answers to difficult questions. The difference is that the rest of the field is far better at it. Her mother, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, can shovel pleasant political manure with the best of them. But it’s not so painfully obvious.
Another reason Stefany Shaheen is getting shellacked for her performance, particularly from her fellow Democrats, is that they expect more. They hear “Shaheen,” and they assume the crafted answers of a political pro will follow. Instead, Shaheen sounds like a rank amateur — Joyce Craig without the charisma.
Does this mean Shaheen isn’t the odds-on favorite to win the NH-01 race? Of course not. Many elections have been won by less-than-impressive candidates with plenty of cash and a well-known name.
“Stefany made the most important political decision of all,” one Seacoast Democrat said on background. “She chose the right parents.”
