Despite far outpacing his Democratic rival in fundraising last year, U.S. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., has been slow to build up his campaign infrastructure.
Sununu is opening his first campaign office this month in Manchester, according to campaign treasurer Paul Collins.
Meanwhile, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, the Democrat running to unseat Sununu, opened her first campaign office last October and is planning for more this summer, according to Shaheen spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield.
Collins wrote in an e-mailed statement that the move is in line with Sununu's "campaign plan and time line." He wrote that "campaign related press calls have been relatively infrequent."
But Melanie Sloan, executive director at the nonpartisan group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, D.C., said she was surprised by the slow build-up.
"He's down in the polls," Sloan said. "I've never heard of anything like it."
A University of New Hampshire poll conducted in January showed Shaheen leading Sununu, 54 percent to 37 percent.
A slow build-up damages Sununu, Sloan said, because it limits his ability to respond to attacks from Shaheen, a three-term former New Hampshire governor.
Under Senate rules, legislative staffers can answer direct questions about a senator's record, but can't engage in the kind of tit-for-tat attacks and responses campaign representatives often engage in, Sloan said.
But Dante Scala, a political scientist with UNH, thinks Sununu is spot on when it comes to managing his campaign.
"At this point, it might not be such a bad idea for a Republican incumbent to keep his head down," Scala said. "Not a lot of people are paying attention right now to the race."
If Scala were advising the Sununu campaign, he said, he would tell him to focus on fundraising and saving money for what will likely be a knockdown, drag-out fight starting in September.
"He is in a predicament," Scala said. "(But) I think he probably figures he can't pull himself out of his hole until after Labor Day."
If Sununu's strategy is to raise money, he has certainly been successful.
As of Dec. 31, the Sununu campaign had $3.4 million cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Shaheen had $1.1 million, the FEC reported.
