Word: runoff
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...lost an election in Louisiana. It has been almost 120 years since a Republican senatorial candidate in Louisiana won one. Both those streaks are safe--for now. On Saturday, Senator Mary Landrieu successfully defended her seat against challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell, by 51% to 49%, in a nasty, narrow runoff election that gives dazed Democrats a silver lining to their dark midterm cloud...
...victories go, it was an ugly one. Landrieu came into this race as the favorite. But Louisiana's idiosyncratic electoral system requires that candidates get 50% of the vote or face a runoff, and on Nov. 5 Landrieu came up just short, with 46%. That opened the door for Terrell, and she charged through it with a parade of Republican heavyweights right behind her: George Bush, Trent Lott and Dick Cheney all stumped for her. Meanwhile, Landrieu scrambled to put distance between herself and her crippled party, pointing out that this year she voted with Bush 74% of the time...
...last undecided U.S. Senate race may not mean much in terms of that chamber's balance of power - with 51 seats already in the bag, Republicans are guaranteed at least a majority. But the runoff contest between Louisiana's incumbent Democrat, Mary Landrieu, and her Republican challenger, Suzanne Haik Terrell, does hold a powerful symbolic appeal. A number of GOP VIPs, including President Bush, have campaigned in the state recently to help solidify the party's strong national showing in November; Democrats, mindful that they already need two Jim Jeffords-like defections to retake the Senate, would prefer...
...fact that this runoff is taking place at all is a sign that Landrieu may be in trouble. After all, if she had managed to bring in more than 50 percent of the votes in the November election, she'd be settling in for a second term in D.C. rather than wrangling with Terrell in increasingly heated debates. Nevertheless, despite the incumbent's lackluster performance last month, oddsmakers still give her a slight edge. Landrieu is from a respected political family; she has the advantage of incumbency and name recognition; her record is established. Most important of all in this...
...talking tough is not an option in Louisiana, where there's a close battle going on, a runoff (required when no one tops 50%) on Dec. 7 between the top two finishers: incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu and state election commissioner Suzanne Terrell. The Republicans' strategy: show how close Terrell is to Bush. The Democrats' approach: pretty much the same. That's right, despite the new tough talk from the party's presidential wannabes, the Democrats' best strategy right now is to narrow the gap with Bush, maybe pretend there's no daylight...