Vice President Biden talks jobs in NH

Vice President Joe Biden visits New Hampshire on Tuesday to talk jobs – those struggling to find one and those working to keep one, including incumbent Democrats ahead of some tough mid-term elections.

While in Nashua, Biden will help raise money for Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, 1st District, and Rep. Annie Kuster, 2nd District, the Associated Press reports. Biden's office tells the AP that the vice president will star in photo lines to benefit Kuster and Shea-Porter, as well as Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter.

Biden, who will be joined at the Nashua event by Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, has also not ruled out a run for president in 2016.

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee has greeted Biden's arrival with a video criticizing U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, as a rubber stamp for the administration. 

"Every time President Obama has needed her, Senator Shaheen has been there for him, including the tie-breaking vote that gave us Obamacare," NH GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Horn said in a statement. 

Republicans challenging Kuster and Shea-Porter also issued statements accusing the congresswomen of being in lock-step with Obama.

Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, had this to say in advance of the trip: "I'm sure this trip will once again highlight the clear contrast between the Democratic Party's vision of progress and expanded opportunity for New Hampshire families, and the Republican Party's plan to revert back to the failed policies of the past while pushing a radical social agenda, instead of focusing on putting Americans back to work."

Also in Nashua on Tuesday, the Americans United for Change tour will stop at Nashua Public Library at 9:30 a.m. to promote President Obama's plan to raise the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $10.10.

In New Hampshire, the unemployment rate slid a little more to 4.7 percent in February, down from 5.4 percent in February 2013. An estimated 35,180 residents were unemployed last month, according to New Hampshire Employment Security.