In what seems to be a consistent storyline this cycle, another seemingly safe Republican district is in play due to the weakness and personal troubles of the GOP candidate. Other examples include: Reps. Barbara Cubin (WY-AL), Marilyn Musgrave (CO-04), John Doolittle (CA-04) and Don Sherwood (PA-10).
A recent poll taken for Democratic businesswoman and Sarasota Bank founder Christine Jennings (September 8-12) showed her leading car dealer Vern Buchanan by eight points - 46 percent to 38 percent. Unlike so many of the marginal districts where a Republican candidate is suffering under the weight of a bleak political environment and an unpopular President, voters here are decidedly less pessimistic than those in other parts of the country. Fifty-one percent of voters in this wealthy coastal district said the country is headed in the wrong direction. Nationally, 61 percent say the country is headed in the wrong direction. President Bush had a 49 percent approval rating in this poll compared to 41 percent nationally.
Instead, Buchanan's weak showing is directly related to voters' feelings about him. Buchanan was involved in a nasty
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