Surprise, surprise: Bob Kerrey, last seen burnishing his Cornhusker credentials by hobnobbing with NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer and writing op-eds in the Daily News, is taking a pass on the Senate race.
With popular former Gov. Mike Johanns (R) in the race, and Kerrey’s months of indecisiveness clearing the field of other potential challengers, it’s not hard to imagine Democrats putting up only token opposition in Nebraska next year.
Eric Kleefeld over at TPM writes that “an inability to win this seat would essentially end any hopes by Democrats of reaching 60 Senate seats this cycle”. I’m not convinced that 60 seats was ever really in reach in the first place, even with a hypothetical Kerrey candidacy. Too many variables would have to break in just the right way in order for Democrats to even come close to such a broad sweep. Perhaps, with Kerrey’s decision, a sense of normalcy will return to prognosticators who are openly hyping the magical 60 mark as some kind of benchmark for DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer’s success next year.
(And yeah, count me down as another guy who’s more than happy not to have to deal with the Liebermanesque statements of the week that a Bob Kerrey campaign would produce.)
As Safe Republican now. I think the only way Fahey or Kleeb jump in is if it looks like Brunning may win the primary, which is very unlikely.
True, it’s looking a lot more difficult then it did some months back, but we still have great candidates and top races in Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Maine, Texas, Idaho, New Mexico, and Kentucky. And don’t forget there’s still a long way to go. Alaska could get interesting, and while we’ve had dissapointments in North Carolina and Alabama, things could change and we could get a sleeper race that takes off (i.e. Allen v. Webb). Personally, I think Oklahoma could even come into play, given the dynamics of that race. So so what if we don’t have another Liebercrat running, I’m plenty happy with things as they’re shaking out regardless of what Kerrey’s decided.