Reply #22: That's awful pessimistic, considering 2004's events

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Dayton has done a good job, overall, for the state, even though his current ratings are down.

Although we didn't gain any congressional seats, we ran good races overall. Political novice Patty Wetterling came quite close to defeating Kennedy, a popular two-term incumbent-- that says a lot right there when you think about it.

As a two-termer, Kennedy should be winning by 10%+ by now. The fact that he barely got a 6% margin says a lot about his vulnerability as a candidate.

The DFL had a good year in 2004, and has the momentum going into next year. We have a lot of newly-minted grassroots activists thanks to the 2004 presidential race-- most of whom are sticking around for 2006, too.

Dayton WILL face a tough race, true, but he's still going to be hard to beat, no matter who (and how much money) the GOP throws into the race.