but as long as we elect a Democrat president, he would not be able to do much damage on that issue.

Here we go...

The more the Dems can solidify their majority, then we can put Harry Reid on the spot why Lieberman still has committee seats with his terrible rhetoric against the Democrats.

He's been gone too long from NE politics to matter (last run was 94?)(1) The state is as republican as Idaho and Kerrey is not as conservative as Ben Nelson (who to me is more of a typical Midwest republican)(2)he's been in NYC for a while and I'm not sure how that will play with NE voters (3) NE's independents would be Republicans in almost any other state East of the MS River and in a presidential year I strongly doubt they'd pull the lever for any national Dem. Now if the GOP throws up a quirky candidate then maybe...other than that, its the GOP's race to lose. Besides..they are better opportunities elsewhere for Dems to spend their money in 2008.

During the 1996 NE US Senate Race between Ben Nelson who was a sitting Governor and Chuck Hagel-a wealthy businessman. Hagel won by a 56-42 percent margin.

In the 2000 NE US Senate Race- Ben Nelson was a popular former Governor. The Republican Nominee was a Conservative State Attorney General. Nelson won by 51-49 percent margin.

Kerrey may lose by a 55-45 percent but this may force Republican to spend money in an otherwise safe seat- money that could be wise spent in CO,NH,VA,MN,ME,MN,OR.
Virginia
Warner(D)55%
Davis/Gilmore(R)45%

Colorado-
Udall(D)52
Schaeffer(R)47

New Hampshire
Shaheen(D)55
Sununu(R)45

New Hampshire
Swett/Marchand(D)50
Sununu(R)50

Minnesota
Coleman(R)50
Franken/Ciresi(D)50

Oregon
Smith(R)50
Merkley(D)50

Maine
Collins(R)52
Allen(D)47

Kerrey could win. This is a year for change, he's been out long enough to seem fresh. The Republicans apparently don't seem to have anyone of stature that could run against him. With battles to hold seats in more expensive states like Oregon and Virginia draining GOP's already depleted coffers, the Republican running against Kerrey could have an uphill battle.

Issues: regarding Iran and Iraq, a Dem President isn't going to escalate anything and will pull out as soon as it's militarily feasible, so nothing there. Social Security repeal is going nowhere as long as there's a Dem majority, add a Dem President, and it won't even be discussed. Kerrey is acceptable in other respects, though, and he certainly won't be helping Republicans or Lieberman at all.

We have to focus on the marginal and uphill states this year.  

We will never again have the funding situation the DSCC and NRSC are in this cycle.  

By targeting smaller-population states we can maximize the bang for our buck while forcing the GOP to divert their increasingly scarce resources to defending `their' states.

We have to push Idaho and the newly opened Wyoming senate seat because the new appointees will fall more easily under a DSCC ad onslaught.  

They are freshmen Republicans in a Democratic Senate under an extraordinarily unpopular Republican President.  

Idaho has been trending Democratic and the newly opened Craig seat already had a great Democratic candidate running for 2008.

Don't forget in WY: we can go after the new Senate seat, the full 6 year term of the other one, and bring down the Queen of Mean, Rep Barbara Cubin.  The state has elected Democrats in 6 of the last 8 governor's races.  Given how small the population is we can blanket the state with direct mail, TV and radio spots, and paid phone bankers for a fraction of the cost of a state the size of Florida, for example.

Similarly, we must target Alaska for Senate and the House seat.  These corruption charges against Young and Stevens are a gold mine for Democrats.  Success this year could also tilt the paper thin GOP margins in the state legislature towards the Democrats.  2011 redistricting, anyone?

Alabama falls into a similar scenario.  Figures is not the best candidate but if we're stuck with her we can build a stronger chance for the 2010 Senate race which will hopefully feature a certain Agriculture Commissioner.  The GOP needs to spend as much cash as possible defending that seat, as well as Georgia and South Carolina.  We might not get those states in 2008 but the 2010 races are a different story.

Also, the added Democratic efforts at the top of the ticket will undoubtedly help state legislative candidates in all of those states.  Those are by far the most important races on the ballot next year.