Jennifer Duffy
Jennifer Duffy
boost close contest democrats efforts giving pick replace seats sure
Lott's re-election is something close to a sure thing, but if he had vacated his seat, the contest to replace him would have been very competitive, giving Democrats a boost in their efforts to pick up seats in November.
allies campaign party run understand
I think that the (Democratic) party and their allies understand he has not had to run a campaign in a long time.
quite shot stride threw
Considering they didn't see it coming, it probably threw them off stride quite a bit. This was a shot out of the blue.
democrats incentive talk victory
Democrats have no incentive to come to the table, really. Not getting anything done is a victory for them, to be able to talk about the do-nothing Senate.
friends-or-friendship giving helping winning
It was a factor. Winning friends by helping them out, giving them money, is always a big deal.
standard talked
They all talked about it. It was a standard part of their pitch.
polls swayed terribly
I'm not terribly swayed by polls at this point.
families judgment people remembered rendered room ultimately
In the end, the judgment is going to be rendered by the families themselves. What the people who were in the room say is ultimately how he will be remembered in this crisis.
consider race until viable
Until you get a viable opponent, ... I consider it a third-tier race.
campaign candidate difficult insists manager race ship team
This race is more than uphill. At this point, for a team to come in and try to right the ship is going to be very tough. It's going to be difficult as long as the candidate insists on being the candidate, the campaign manager and the strategist.
favors gets hope race
When this (the presidential) race gets under way, favors will be cashed in and collected, ... They'll hope the favors they did are returned.