The folks we tested against Dole

Over the course of 2007 when everyone was considering whether to challenge Elizabeth Dole or not, PPP tested ten potential candidates against her. Here's how they stacked up:

Person	Margin Relative to Dole
Mike Easley	+3
Dean Smith	-6
Roy Cooper	-10
Elaine Marshall	-11
Brad Miller	-11
Jerry Meek	-15
Bob Etheridge	-15
Grier Martin	-15
Kay Hagan	-16
Ted Kaplan	-19

The fact that Hagan polled second from the bottom is a pretty good indication that running a strong campaign is a heck of a lot more important than early name recognition.

Easley's obviously taken some hits since this poll was conducted and I think Coach Smith has better ways to enjoy his retirement but it's interesting to see that even then Roy Cooper was the strongest of the potential contenders. He'll be the first person we test against Richard Burr for 2010. Look for that later this week or early next week.

One thing's for sure: I don't think we'll still be testing hypothetical candidates in September praying for someone to enter the race like we were in 2007.