Savvy Hagan

Kay Hagan is really running a better campaign than I ever expected. I'm glad to see that she is having a round table with several sheriffs across the state to discuss immigration. Our last poll showed that Hagan is actually leading among voters whose biggest concerns are the bread and butter issues of the economy (51-39) or the war (57-36). But Dole is winning overall because she's really clobbering Hagan with voters most concerned about immigration (89-8) and moral and family values (82-10).

If Hagan can neutralize Dole even a little bit on those issues without getting too demagogic on them, she is really going to be in good shape.

I wish those issues weren't the most important thing to 17% of voters in the state. But they are, and we can't just write those voters off right from the start and expect to get 50% of the vote. That's the kind of thinking that makes Democrats lose elections.