Here’s an interesting assessment of why Jesse Helms’ old Senate seat will now be occupied by a Democrat. Political science professor Michael Bitzer argues that straight-ticket voters gave Kay Hagan the nudge to beat Elizabeth Dole in the race. In other words, the outcome (at least mostly) is thanks to Obama enthusiasm.
I agree. Much ado has been made about Dole’s ad in the waning days of the campaign, but I don’t think it had a seismic impact, especially since so many (more than 2.6 million) early voted and the ad would not have influenced them anyway.
