The Reluctant Warriors of the G.O.P.

One reason the Republicans managed to snatch the Senate majority away from the Democrats in 2002 was their success in recruiting strong candidates. But G.O.P. recruiting efforts for the 2004 election are running into considerably more trouble. In half a dozen Senate races thus far, Republicans have failed to get their first choices to run. Former G.O.P. Governors Jim Edgar of Illinois and Ed Schafer of North Dakota begged off Senate races, as did Governor Mike Huckabee and former Congressman Asa Hutchinson, the Republicans' best hopes for unseating Senator Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. Representative Jennifer Dunn, the G.O.P.'s first choice to...

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