VIDEO: Battle for Vet Votes

MANCHESTER – A congressional battle for veteran votes is looming in New Hampshire's 1st District. Are parliamentary "gimmicks" being used to misrepresent the candidates' stands?

Supporters of both, the Republican incumbent Frank Guinta and Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, have lobbed charges the other camp is soft on veterans issues for months. It now appears the partisan fight is escalating.

Three dozen veterans supporting Guinta gathered Monday in Manchester's Veterans Park to counter what they claim are false attacks by Shea-Porter in her latest television ad.

Speakers took turns claiming the Shea-Porter ad cherry picks congressional votes, what Rep. Ken Weyler (R-Kingston) and Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) called parliamentary "gimmicks."

Said Carson, also a veteran, "Congressman Guinta promised to support our veterans and he has kept his promise."

"Talk is cheap," said Capt. John Kroehler, of Bedford Post 81. "It's what you do that counts."

Naomi Andrews, Shea-Porter's campaign manager, said the record shows Guinta repeatedly voting against veterans. "Congressman Frank Guinta should have voted for veterans, and he also should have stayed in Washington for another month and demanded action on H.R. 5683, the Veterans Jobs Corp. Act," Andrews said in a statement Monday.