Last modified: 10/14/2014 9:21:40 AM
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) drew a line in the sand between herself and her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, during her appearance Wednesday at Aesop’s Tables in Peterborough.
In distinguishing herself from Brown on everything from women’s reproductive rights to campaign finance reform to climate change, Shaheen also questioned Brown’s trustworthiness when it comes to women and New Hampshire.
Shaheen stopped at Aesop’s Tables on her way to Keene as part of her “A Senator New Hampshire Women Can Trust” tour. She was greeted in Peterborough by a packed cafe, with not much elbow room.
Allison Fredericks, owner of Aesop’s Tables, said she normally keeps politics out of her cafe. But, Shaheen brought affordable childcare and education forward, she said, which is important to Fredericks because she is a mother. Speaking personally, Fredericks also said that, if it wasn’t for some of Shaheen’s political efforts, Aesop’s Tables — which has always been exclusively owned by women — wouldn’t be here.
Following Fredericks’ introduction, Shaheen spoke about her support of women’s employment success and reproductive rights.
Shaheen started by declaring, “We have to do more in Washington [for women in business].”
She said she is currently working to offer more women access to credit. Shaheen and U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wis.) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation in June to encourage women’s business ownership and give women-owned small businesses more opportunities to win federal contracts. Their goal was to award at least 5 percent of all federal contracts to women-owned small businesses.
Shaheen said New Hampshire is more disadvantaged economically compared with the rest of the nation, because this state has a larger per capita population of women and women receive substantially less federal contracts.
Shaheen continued by comparing her support of women, both professionally and with their reproductive rights, to that of Brown.
“There is a difference between us on health care,” Shaheen said, referring to Brown. “A very big difference.”
Shaheen brought up the fact that she supports the Affordable Care Act. She said it’s important for women to have preventative health care, like mammograms. She stressed preventative health care is better than treating illnesses.
She also threw her support behind offering contraceptives through health care, because 99 percent of women have used contraceptives in their lifetime. Shaheen said Brown supported an amendment to remove contraceptives from being provided for through health care. “Scott Brown doesn’t seem to understand this affects women’s choices,” she said.
Shaheen also criticized Brown’s support of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, which allows corporations to exclude health care coverage because of business owners’ religious beliefs.
She concluded by bringing up Brown’s support of legislation that would have required women to look at pictures of fetuses before their abortion and the Blunt Amendment that would let employers deny women coverage for a range of health care services, including mammograms and contraception. “There is a big difference between Scott Brown and me,” she said. “I trust women.”
Attempts to reach the Brown campaign for a response were unsuccessful as of press time.
Despite Shaheen speaking almost completely about women’s reproductive rights, the audience, mostly of women, asked Shaheen about broader subjects.
Amy Markus, the library director in Hancock, said that while the economy is doing much better, the middle class isn’t “feeling” that recovery — “just the 1 percent,” Markus said.
Shaheen responded that the middle class is really struggling. Moving forward, Shaheen said it’s important to improve childcare services and affordable education and student loans.
Shaheen said New Hampshire has the second highest student loan debt in the country, to which the crowd gasped.
Shaheen said she also recently met with Realtors, who said they are seeing that high student loans are creating a lack of first-time home buyers. She said refinancing student loans will have a “ripple effect” across the economy.
Another audience member asked about climate change. Is there any hope in Congress?
Shaheen again used this as an opportunity to compare herself with Brown. She said carbon is contributing to climate change. Brown, on the other hand, goes back and forth between saying it’s human-caused.
Jill Shaffer-Hammond, Peterborough’s state representative who is finishing her term, said a “silver lining” in the Affordable Care Act is that it provides coverage for mental health conditions.
Shaheen said this is not only important for patients. She also spoke about how she had spoken to a mental health professional recently who said more people have to move into the mental health field. She said Obamacare covering mental health will provide incentive for that.
After the event, Shaffer-Hammond said she wasn’t surprised the audience didn’t ask exclusively about women’s issues.
“Women’s issues aren’t everybody’s issues,” she said.
She was most impressed by Shaheen’s remarks on climate change and boosting the economy.
Sarah Bauhan of Peterborough said that every time she thinks of Brown, she “quakes in [her] boots.” She said Brown does not have New Hampshire’s interests at heart.
“Jeanne Shaheen has been working for us for 20 years,” Bauhan said. “She understands the people. Scott Brown is not from here. Jeanne has been part of our community.”