A lot has changed since Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) and John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) first ran against one another for the U.S. Senate seat in 2002.

Sununu is now the incumbent Republican Senator, while Shaheen comes to the race having spent the last couple of years working at Harvard and chairing John Kerry's presidential campaign.

In 2002, the day before Election Day, a UNH poll had Sununu with a one percent lead over Shaheen. Now that same poll shows Shaheen with a six-point lead over Sununu.

"One thing that is obviously different is that John Sununu is the incumbent and is a senator who supported George Bush's economic policies that have resulted in the economy tanking," Judy Reardon, a senior advisor to Shaheen, told PolitickerNH.com in an interview.

Tom Rath, a Republican consultant, also said the political environment is different for Republican candidates.

"It's a very different environment than 2002," Rath said. "In 2002, as Senator Sununu's ad reminds people, both candidates were embracing President Bush and clearly the environment has changed."

Rath also said that in 2002 the Republican benefited from having a strong ticket.

Dean Spiliotes, a political analyst, said that a major difference between 2008 and 2002 is that this year the race must deal with the background of the presidential race, as opposed to 2002 when it was a mid-term election.

"This time it's been more about the dynamics of the national race than New Hampshire," Spiliotes said.

Reardon and Rath both credited the campaigns with being able to promote their messages.

Reardon also credited Shaheen with putting together an effective campaign organization and said that, "She has a record of leadership that allows her to be a credible messenger."

Rath, however, said that Shaheen has mainly focused on tying Sununu to President Bush.

"The message she's been getting out is less about what she's going to do than it is about President Bush is unpopular. She's been connecting President Bush to Senator Sununu," Rath said.

Though Rath added that Sununu has been able to paint himself has an "independent voice for New Hampshire."

Shaheen has enjoyed a lead in the polls since the spring. Though the race has gone from double-digits to now single-digits, Spiliotes said Shaheen has been able to maintain her advantage in the polls.

"She has had the wind at her back this whole time. Sununu has been going up stream," Spiliotes said. "Shaheen has benefited from the local politics getting sucked-up into the national politics stuff."

Kathy Sullivan, former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman, started the Draft Shaheen movement in the summer of 2007 in order to recruit Shaheen for the upcoming Senate race.

"I started the Draft Shaheen movement because I thought it was so important to elect a Democratic Senator in 2008 and I believed the strongest candidate against John Sununu would be Jeanne Shaheen," Sullivan said.

Sullivan added, "I'm not always an optimist. I've been a Democrat in New Hampshire and a Red Sox fan, but boy it's feeling pretty good out there."