Usually, Institute of Politics Director Jeanne Shaheen is the one trying to persuade out-of-work politicians to return to the podium. Now, national political leaders are courting her.

Shaheen met recently with Democratic campaign leaders to discuss a possible 2008 run against Republican Sen. John E. Sununu, her former rival in an unsuccessful 2002 Senate bid, The New Hampshire Union Leader reported this week. If she decides to run, the race could immediately become one of the 2008 cycle’s marquee Senate races.

But Shaheen, the former governor of New Hampshire who came to Harvard in 2005, has yet to decide whether she will leave her IOP post to run for office.

“She’s really enjoying her work here with students and faculty, and we really enjoy working for her,” Esten Perez, IOP’s director of communications, said yesterday. “She’s focused on that work, as we all are here.” Shaheen was unavailable for comment.

Deirdre Murphy, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), confirmed yesterday that Shaheen had met privately with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and DSCC Chairman Sen. Charles E. Schumer ’71 of New York, but said she could not comment on the specifics of the meeting.

“We believe that Governor Shaheen would a great candidate, and polls have shown John Sununu to be considered extremely vulnerable,” she said, referencing a poll conducted in late March by the American Research Group, in which Shaheen led Sununu by 10 points.

The DSCC has promised Shaheen its full support if she decides to run, Murphy said.

Shaheen was New Hampshire’s first woman governor, serving three terms before running for Senate in 2002, when she lost by a narrow margin to Sununu. She served as the national chair for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 before taking the helm of the IOP.

She emerged as the Democratic forerunner for the 2008 Senate race in 2006, when popular Governor John Lynch indicated that he would not pursue the Senate seat.

Once a solidly Republican state, New Hampshire has been trending Democratic in recent years. In 2004, Lynch knocked off an incumbent Republican governor. And last year, when Lynch was reelected, Democratic challengers beat incumbent congressmen in both of the state’s congressional districts, winning back control of the state senate.

Harvard Republican Club President Jeffrey Kwong ’09 expressed his support for Sununu.

“He is very much an independent thinker, which is much in line with New Hampshire’s politics. I think he is a good match for the state,” he said.

Harvard College Democrats President Brigit M. Helgen ’08 said that the Dems would be “extremely excited” should Shaheen declare her candidacy.

“She’s been a great friend to the College Dems,” Helgen said. “We’d certainly help her with campaign.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Sununu’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment yesterday.