West Virginians know why Democrats brought in Barack Obama to raise money for Bob Byrd's bid for a ninth term. Byrd is acting scared. He is a legend. He never won a Senate race by less than 30 points. West Virginians put him right up there with Sears and Carter's liver pills. But times change, and whatever my disagreements with Byrd may be, he is a masterful politician. Byrd taught Ted Kennedy how to count votes in a 1971 upset over the No. 2 post in the Senate. Kennedy miscalculated.
Byrd continues counting. He might see himself falling a few votes short this time. The National Republican Senatorial Committee did a telephone poll of 500 likely voters on March 15-16 and found Republican Congresswoman Shelley Capito is within 10 points of Byrd. Byrd was ahead 52 percent to 42. The margin of error is 4.3 percent, meaning that in 19 out of 20 cases, the numbers for the two would fall between 48 and 56 for Byrd and 38 and 46 for Capito. The days of the 30-point wins may have passed.
| Just a matter of getting the packaging right, of course. Voters'll never notice the substance, and the dead can always be counted upon... |
Now that is one poll, by Republicans no less. Democrats are not releasing their poll results, but their reaction is curious. They sent in a rookie senator to raise money for their longest-serving senator. Shouldn't that be the other way around? "In 2006, Senator Byrd will be the target of Republicans because he stands up for what he believes," Obama said in a computer message to members of MoveOn.org.
| Oh, that'll help in West Virginny... |
In reaching out to the far left for help, Byrd is not only going where the money is, he goes where his political heart is. Calling for help this early looks like panic. Well, Republicans did knock off the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, last year. But Republicans tried to target Byrd for defeat when he was Senate leader in 1982 by running Cleve Benedict against him. Bringing up Byrd's Ku Klux Klan past failed as miserably then as it did in his first congressional race in 1952.
"Why Senator! You're as white as a sheet!"
"Of course Ah am!" |
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