Aging, Less Active Senator...

As talk swirls in local circles aboutt he potential to challenge certain aging and largely inactive state senators who have not been heard of much in their districts as of late, Stuart Rothenberg brings us talk of upsets and their potential in even the most obviously secure of seats.

(Republican challenger) Close and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee handled the issue very delicately, praising Thurmond for his years of service and accomplishments for the state, but suggesting that the election was about the future — and who could best serve the citizens of the Palmetto State for the next decade or two — rather than about the past.

Eight years after that race, Kentucky Democrats adopted a different strategy to try to bring down Bunning. They argued that the then-73-year-old conservative Republican was mentally-impaired, that he had “lost it,” and ought not be handed a second term in the Senate.

Neither challenger prevailed in the end, but then few of our state legislators in safe districts are as well known or well loved as they might think. Other insights?