national (vs. local) takes on the 9th District race

Last week, Firedog Lake commissioned a poll from SurveyUSA and found Sodrel leading Hill 49-41%.

Not surprisingly, national coverage (e.g., from Michael Barone) focused on the potential for a Sodrel/Hill rematch-- given their knowledge of Sodrel and the relatively sexy story of a fifth campaign between the pair.

In many cases, national coverage has failed to even mention the Republican primary with its two other active, strong candidates-- Travis Hankins and Todd Young.

How would Young or Hankins do-- in November-- as the GOP nominee? Difficult to say. Sodrel has much more name recognition, but much more baggage-- including aspects of his voting record and an unknown number of voters who have grown tired of him. So, Young &/or Hankins might easily do better than Sodrel. (For my overview of the race, click here.)

At the local level, GOP primary voters will learn more and more about Hankins and Young. Any of the three would be a dramatic improvement over Hill. But as I've already revealed, I think Hankins is easily the best of the bunch.

In any case, it should be quite a primary!