SO THE QUESTION IS, WHO WILL THAT BE? WE’RE WATCHING AND WAITING TO SEE HOW THIS UNFOLDS. THANKS, ARIELLE. WE NOW WANT TO BRING IN DOCTOR DANTE SCALA FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. DOCTOR SCALA, WHILE WE ALL KNEW THIS WAS A POSSIBILITY, IT’S STILL A BIT OF A SURPRISE AND IT WILL BE A CHANGING OF THE GUARD. WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL REACTION WHEN YOU HEARD THIS ANNOUNCEMENT? GOOD EVENING ADAM. YOU KNOW THE THREE WORDS THAT JUMPED OUT AT ME FROM HER ANNOUNCEMENT WHEN I WATCHED IT WAS, IT’S JUST TIME. YOU KNOW, SO MUCH OF POLITICS IS ABOUT HAVING A GOOD SENSE OF TIMING, AND POLITICIANS ARE ALWAYS EAGER TO JUMP INTO RACES. THEY ALWAYS THINK THEY CAN WIN THEM. BUT IT’S A LOT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO FIGURE OUT THE RIGHT TIME TO STEP ASIDE. AND SO FOR SHAHEEN, WHO HAS ALWAYS BEEN RUTHLESSLY PRAGMATIC WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTIONS AND SUCH A BIG WINNER LIKE HALF A DOZEN TIMES WINNING STATEWIDE ELECTIONS, IT WAS HER SENSE OF TIMING TODAY THAT REALLY STRUCK ME THAT SHE KNEW IT WAS TIME TO STEP ASIDE, AND THAT SHE WAS LEAVING AT THE TOP OF HER GAME. DOCTOR, YOU KNOW, THE SHAHEEN LEGACY ISN’T FULLY WRITTEN YET, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS, WE KNOW ONE OF HER TOP ACHIEVEMENTS. WHEN SHE STARTED, IT WAS VERY RARE FOR DEMOCRATS TO WIN STATEWIDE RACES. SHE COMPLETELY CHANGED THAT REALITY. ABSOLUTELY. AND YOU THINK ABOUT THE 1990S. IT WAS A TIME WHEN DEMOCRATS LOST A LOT MORE THAN THEY WON. AND SHE REALLY DELIVERED AND EMBODIED THE BLUEPRINT, YOU KNOW, SOCIALLY LIBERAL, FISCALLY MODERATE THAT HAS WON SO MANY ELECTIONS FOR DEMOCRATS OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES. THAT SHAHEEN BLUEPRINT IS STILL USED TO SOME SUCCESS. BUT HOW DO THE DYNAMICS OF THE U.S. SENATE RACE NOW CHANGE WITH SENATOR SHAHEEN BOWING OUT? DOCTOR SCALA? WELL, I THINK ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT MIDTERMS TEND TO BE ABOUT THE PARTY IN POWER. THE PRESIDENT’S PARTY. AND SO DEMOCRATS, YOU KNOW, EVEN INCUMBENTS LIKE CHRIS PAPPAS OR MAGGIE GOODLANDER WILL BE RUNNING AGAINST SOMETHING. THEY’LL BE RUNNING AGAINST THE TRUMP RECORD. AS IT STANDS NEXT YEAR. AND THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT REPUBLICANS, EVEN CHRIS SUNUNU, IF HE DECIDES TO GET IN, WILL HAVE TO CONTEND WITH. AND OF COURSE, IN ANY TRUMP PRESIDENCY, THE HEADLINES CAN CHANGE FROM DAY TO DAY, HOUR TO HOUR. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE POLITICAL REALITY AND THE DYNAMICS WILL BE LIKE EVEN A YEAR FROM NOW, BUT IS IT TOO EARLY RIGHT NOW TO DECLARE A FRONTRUNNER AMONG THOSE MANY BIG NAMES THAT WE’VE STARTED TO SEE EMERGE? YOU KNOW, I WILL SAY THAT AGAIN, JEANNE SHAHEEN. SENSE OF TIMING IS GOOD BECAUSE YOU HAVE TWO CANDIDATES, CHRIS PAPPAS MAGGIE GOODLANDER, WHO HAVE JUST WON CONGRESSIONAL RACES UP HERE, CHRIS PAPPAS, FOR SEVERAL TIMES. REMEMBER, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS REPRESENT HALF THE STATE, EACH ONE, HALF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. SO SHE’S LEAVING THINGS POTENTIALLY IN QUITE GOOD HANDS. CERTAINLY WILL BE A GENERATIONAL CHANGE. AND WE’LL SEE WHO DECIDES TO GE