"The country's been okay if you're a big corporation," Shaheen said. "It's been working for you if you're a corporate interest. It's not been working so well for middle class Americans."
Shaheen, who is running against incumbent Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., maintained a conversational and informal tone throughout the discussion, shaking hands and introducing herself to every student in the room. Shaheen gave a brief statement outlining her priorities as a candidate before taking questions from the students.
The United States' ability to compete in the global economy depends on technological development and innovation, she said and also emphasized the role that environmentally-friendly technologies will play in stimulating economic growth.
"There are lots of green jobs that can be created, and we need a major investment in [research and development] in new energy technology," Shaheen said. "We've got to look at solar and wind turbines and other alternatives and energy efficiency. For me, this is an issue that's got tremendous benefits."
Developing alternative sources of fuel is not only critical for the country's economy, as the cost of oil has now exceeded $100 per barrel, but also for national security, according to Shaheen.
"We're not going to change what's happening in our reliance on foreign oil unless we develop a sector for that," she said.
Shaheen also said she supports legislation to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
When asked by a student, Shaheen did not commit to a green jobs initiative that would conserve 20 percent of energy by 2015 or a ban on new coal-fired power plants -- part of the platform of the New Hampshire Powershift youth climate advocacy group. She did say, however, that she does not believe new power plants should be built if they can not be built cleanly. "There are potentially interesting technologies that can make coal cleaner," Shaheen said. "We haven't seen how those are going to work yet, so I think we should not be investing in any new coal-fired plants until we know if we can actually use clean coal technology in a way that really makes a difference."
Shaheen also outlined her platform for improving the healthcare system to make it more affordable and accessible. Her platform included changing patent laws to allow more generic prescription drugs to come to market, allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries and using electronic medical records.
Shaheen discussed issues that specifically affect New Hampshire voters, such as the difficulties the state faces in funding education and infrastructure maintenance because of the absence of a sales or income tax. As governor, Shaheen promoted legislation to create a sales tax, but her efforts were unsuccessful. She would not commit to a pledge to create a similar tax as a senator for New Hampshire, when asked by a student.
"That's the kind of issue that you have to build some consensus for in order to get people to support an alternative, and I don't think we've got a consensus for anything in this state," Shaheen said.
Shaheen spoke about the importance of energizing the youth vote, saying that 2004 saw a large increase in youth voter turnout. In 2004, over a million more people under 30 had voted than those over 65, which was a change in recent voting patterns, she said.
"I think young voters are going to be critical in the fall elections," Shaheen said. "I'm counting on you all to turn out, to vote Democratic, and to help elect me to the U.S. Senate."
Shaheen described Sununu as the "number-one targeted incumbent" for Democrats in the 2008 Senate race. Shaheen formerly served three terms as the governor of New Hampshire before running for Senate against Sununu in 2002, an election that she lost.
