The Democrats Drive for 60 in the Senate

It was a fantasy a month ago. Democrats now eye a filibuster-proof Senate

Ron Edmonds / AP

President Bush delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Jan. 28, 2008

Only a month ago, Bruce Lunsford looked like a bad bet to unseat the most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill. A businessman who twice failed to become Kentucky's governor, Democrat Lunsford seemed not much of a match for minority leader Mitch McConnell, who has spent 24 years in the Senate. McConnell's campaign has raised nearly $18 million, while Lunsford had to loan $5.5 million to his. But where polls as recently as mid-September were showing Lunsford running 13 or more points behind McConnell, several since then suggest the race is a dead heat, and the national Democratic Party has begun pouring...

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