Daschle "in serious jeopardy of losing his seat"

The White House Bulletin, a Washington, DC publication, had the following to say yesterday about Senator Daschle's re-election chances:

Two polls in a row show Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle losing by a small margin to former Rep. John Thune, while other recent polls show Daschle with a slight lead. Whether he is ahead or behind by a couple of points, the feeling inside the Senate is that Daschle is one of two incumbents - Lisa Murkowski being the other - in serious jeopardy of losing their seat. The buzz in the Senate is that Daschle would like to see not only the extenders go through, but also an energy bill, prior to the election, as both are important to his South Dakota constituency. With President Bush having assumed the frontrunner status in the presidential race, the thinking among Senate GOP leaders is that Senate Republicans could add to their ranks in November. Even a seat or two GOP gain can change the dynamic on spending and tax bills....

Usually, pressure to go home from Senators is what drives decisions on adjournment in that body. However, this year, most incumbents appear to be safe and many of the open seats are being vacated by Democrats. With Daschle being one of the incumbents in trouble, some Republicans in town are counseling a relatively late departure in an effort to tie Daschle down in Washington while his challenger, John Thune, campaigns freely in South Dakota.