Mid-Day wrap up

I would have to agree with Rothenberg for the most part, if not, you can put it leaning slightly Dem. The polls in this race are all over the place from Landrieu holding a 4 point lead to a 10+ point lead.

There are going to some wild cards in play in this Senate race.

1) Obama may turn out the black vote to record levels, which would help Landrieu. (the young vote factor would be negligible because Louisiana's young people are conservative/populist)

2) Some mistrust of Kennedy by conservatives (he only became a Republican in September and ran as a liberal for US Senate in 2004).

3) A large chunk of Landrieu's base is gone due to Katrina.

4) Landrieu has won the backing of many Republican elected officials and financiers.

5) Landrieu aggressively campaigning in rural areas of the state where she has not traditionally done well in the past.

6) McCain is expected to win Louisiana overwhelmingly.