Things traditionally get started a little late down here, an inclination that runs from mealtimes to political races. But with nearly a year to go before the 2014 election, it is already open season on Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. …
Republicans are so giddy about the prospect of winning her seat that their main problem is too many of them are trying to do so. “It’s a different world than Louisiana was six years ago,” said Bernie Pinsonat, a pollster in Baton Rouge. “We do not have Democrats who win anything in this state today.”
As Democrats look across the rest of the South, the outlook does not get much better. Ms. Landrieu, along with Senators Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Kay Hagan of North Carolina, is pretty much all that is left of Southern Democrats in the Senate. All three are up for re-election next year. And the outcome of their races could determine whether the Southern Democrat, once a formidable species in the Senate, is headed for extinction. CONT.
Campbell Robertson & Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times