Gov. Peter Shumlin spent Monday campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.
Shumlin talked to grassroots Clinton supporters at several stops and he helped launch a phone bank in Portsmouth.
As fate would have it, Shumlin and Senator Bernie Sanders were crisscrossing New Hampshire on the same day. While Sanders concentrated on communities in the northern part of the state, Shumlin made a series of stops across the central region of the state.
On this trip, the governor met with Clinton campaign supporters to highlight her new plan to make college more affordable. It's an issue that Sanders also addressed several weeks ago.
"This is a huge challenge. College costs for a four-year degree have gone up 42 percent in the last decade. That's going to cripple our economy if we can't move more first-generation students into higher education," Shumlin says.
Shumlin says he isn't surprised that Sanders is drawing huge crowds in many parts of the country. That's because the governor thinks many middle class voters are becoming increasingly frustrated that their economic situation has not improved for many years.
"This economy for really the last 10 to 15 years has served those at the top very well and the middle class has been standing still," Shumlin says.
"Folks are frustrated and they're tired of it and want to see their wages go up. That's the issue in this campaign."
Shumlin is convinced that Clinton will rise in the polls as more and more voters focus on economic issues.
"We all care more about that than the obsession that we have with email servers," Shumlin says.
"My view is when Hillary gets out and talks about her platform,what she is going to do as president, she's the most competent, capable candidate that we have running to lead our nation at this incredibly difficult time."
There are indications that Vice President Joe Biden is seriously considering entering the race. If this happens,Shumlinsays Clinton could become an even stronger candidate in a highly competitive three way race with Biden and Sanders.
"I think that the more candidates you have the better it is for Democrats and the better it is for democracy... and that she's going shine above the rest regardless of who's in the race over time," Shumlin says.
It's likely that Shumlin will make more trips to New Hampshire in the coming months to support Hillary Clinton's campaign. Shumlin says "he'll do whatever he can" to help Clinton win the Democratic nomination.
Copyright 2015 Vermont Public Radio
