Given King has been a reliable vote for and has caucused with Democrats in the Senate ever since he was originally elected, thereтАЩs no energy to unseat him.
All of KingтАЩs Democratic challengers have barely been able to mount a credible campaign.
Keep in mind that it was for a long time Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in the Senate. Both first took office in the mid 90тАЩs and served together for 15 years.
When Snowe retired in 2012, Angus King running for the Senate made it more difficult for Democrats as he was a popular Governor prior to that. If Democrats have to challenge an incumbent GOP Senator or a popular politician like King running as an Independent, the task of winning a Senate seat is made much harder.
Yes, an open Senate seat makes it much easier for Democrats to win.
If Angus King didnтАЩt run for the Senate back in 2012, the Senate race for Democrats would have likely been much easier for them. 2012 was a high turnout election as opposed to 2010 and 2014.
Maine hasn't elected a Democratic Senator since 1988. Damn right I'll take what we can get.
Angus King is basically a liberal Democrat except on some economic issues. He has very high rating from Liberal orgs.
That's not the point, he never won an election as a Democrat.
Have Democrats run any credible candidate against him? He's basically a moderate Bernie Sanders.
Given King has been a reliable vote for and has caucused with Democrats in the Senate ever since he was originally elected, thereтАЩs no energy to unseat him.
All of KingтАЩs Democratic challengers have barely been able to mount a credible campaign.
But he's not a Democrat. Democrats in Maine are not all that successful statewide.
I'll take Golden over Collins and I don't know that some liberal Democrat would have a better chance.
Keep in mind that it was for a long time Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in the Senate. Both first took office in the mid 90тАЩs and served together for 15 years.
When Snowe retired in 2012, Angus King running for the Senate made it more difficult for Democrats as he was a popular Governor prior to that. If Democrats have to challenge an incumbent GOP Senator or a popular politician like King running as an Independent, the task of winning a Senate seat is made much harder.
You mean if they don't have an open seat, don't you?
Yes, an open Senate seat makes it much easier for Democrats to win.
If Angus King didnтАЩt run for the Senate back in 2012, the Senate race for Democrats would have likely been much easier for them. 2012 was a high turnout election as opposed to 2010 and 2014.
You said it was much harder for Democrats to win if they don't have an incumbent GOP senator.
I had to re-edit my original comment. Not sure what happened there.
Simple: You meant to write much easier.
I think it's quite intuitive that Golden would have the best chance, and yes, it's so difficult to beat Collins that any potential edge is worth it.