The only way to run -- scared

Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole of Salisbury, the state's senior senator, and Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro are getting a lot of ink -- traditional and digital -- these days as a potentially close contest in the general election. Dole was sometimes referred to as a political rock star when she won her Senate race in 2002, and now Hagan, niece of former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Lawton Chiles, is winning good reviews as a rising star of the Democratic Party.
Here's what Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post blog The Fix said just the other day:
"9. North Carolina: We've been somewhat slow to come around on this race -- North Carolina is, after all, a conservative state. State Sen. Kay Hagan (D) ran a solid primary campaign and gets rave reviews from Democratic operatives who aren't easily impressed. Democrats are also overjoyed with several polls (of varying credibility) that show Hagan running virtually even with Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R). That seems a bit ambitious but with Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) promising to contest the Tarheel State and Hagan preparing to run a well funded and active campaign, this race could get interesting. (Previous ranking: N/A)"
We might give that a little more credence if Cillizza could spell Tar Heel correctly, but everyone's entitled to one mistake.
Much is made of recent polls showing Dole and Hagan in a potentially close race. Dole's recent campaign shakeup has also made some news. She's got a new campaign manager, a new communications director and now she's blogging. Her Web site is also promoting her achievements, no doubt aimed at answering critics who ask what she's done lately for the state.
That's the same question that critics asked about former Sen. John Edwards, the one-term Democratic senator when he started running for the presidency.
We can't know this far out whether the race will be close or not. But we do know that a veteran like Dole -- and a veteran like Hagan, for that matter -- are going to follow this common-sense advice: They're both going to run scared. In a hotly-contested state like North Carolina, it makes no sense to run any other way.