Americans must be willing to draw "the lines a little tighter" around the freedom they enjoy in order to protect against the kind of attack that occurred in Canada on Wednesday, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu says.
"Both Canada and the U.S., we’re open societies … It's a hallmark of the freedom that we all value and it is a tough balance to try and deal with remaining that way," Sununu said Wednesday on the "Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"Unfortunately, in these times, you have to draw the lines a little tighter."
But Sununu, who was chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, believes the government has thus far been "unwilling to draw them as tight" as is necessary.
He spoke hours after a Canadian soldier was shot and killed at the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa and "numerous gunmen" were seen running toward the nearby parliament buildings, where more shots were fired.
Canadian officials told CNN and other media outlets there were at least three separate shooting incidents at roughly the same moment — just before 10 a.m. local time in Ottawa. A hospital says it has received three victims from the shootings in Canada's capital.
"It’s a dangerous world; it's a tough world. There are bad people out there. I just wish we had a president and a White House that understood that there are really bad people out there trying to do bad things to us," Sununu said.
"But we're getting to a point now where even this president, I hope is beginning to see the light that there are problems that have to be dealt with."
Sununu said he is "confident" Republicans are going to do well in the upcoming midterm elections and retake the Senate.
"I must admit I have no idea what the Democrats are doing in order to promote their turnout other than beginning to play the race card in a number of states like Georgia," he said.
"But it's when you don't know what they're doing that you just have to double down your own efforts. I applaud [Republican National Committee Chairman] Reince Priebus and the Senatorial Committee.
"They're working hand in hand to get Republican, independent and conservative Democratic voters out … I hope [Democrats] don't surprise us like they surprised us last time, but in the absence of a magic surprise on their part, we're going to win seven or eight seats and take control of the Senate."
Sununu is also optimistic that Republican Scott Brown can catch up to and unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in the New Hampshire Senate race.
Brown has been trailing Shaheen for months, but is closing the gap. And the latest Suffolk poll has Shaheen leading Brown by just three points, 49 percent to 46 percent.
"He's really closed the gap and now he's got a week and a half, two weeks to pull ahead. Scott's going to pull it out," Sununu predicted.
He said the highly anticipated debate between Scott and Shaheen showed the incumbent trying to "dance and dodge" when she was asked about how she supported President Barack Obama 99 percent of the time.
"As usual, Shaheen gave some kind of an around-the-barn answer and the audience even caught it and laughed at her," Sununu said.
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