BETTER RED THAN DEAD

South Is Posing '04 Questions for Democrats in the Senate: The difficulties faced by Democrats in holding their strength in Congress next year are on vivid display in the South. (CARL HULSE, 7/07/03, NY Times)

Georgia is not the only Southern state where the Democrats face problems. It is unclear whether Democratic incumbents will be on the ballot in South Carolina, where 81-year-old Ernest F. Hollings has hinted at retirement, or North Carolina and Florida, where Senators John Edwards and Bob Graham are running for their party's presidential nomination. Their decisions on whether to seek re-election to the Senate will help determine how many open seats Democrats will have to defend in a region where President Bush is riding high.

"In that part of the country in a presidential year it is kind of a perfect storm coming together for the Democrats, and it could get ugly for them," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan analyst of Congressional races.

Nationally, Democrats have more Senate seats in play than Republicans, 19 to 15, and they concede that the South poses a challenge given Mr. Bush's strong showing in most Southern states in 2000.

Consider the problem the Democrats face as a Party: it's difficult to make a case for them winning a state from Maryland south and west to New Mexico, even in a close election. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 7, 2003 12:22 PM