September 12, 2006, Primary penumbra
I had been hoping to tie Connecticut "insurgent" Democrat Ned Lamont and Rhode Island "insurgent" Republican Steve Laffey, who happens to be the mayor of Cranston, R.I., together thematically, by asking "Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of the voters of New England?" The line, of course, from 1930's radio, is "The Shadow Knows." The Shadow was the alter ego of a character named... Lamont Cranston. Any set up of a punch line that takes that long is obviously a problem! So never mind: just know that with 70% of precincts in, incumbent GOP Senator Lincoln Chafee is holding a 6% lead.
Even if he holds on to win, Chafee will face a formidable Democratic challenger in Sheldon Whitehouse, and Rhode Island has a heavy Democratic advantage in voter registrations; Rhode Island is regarded as a key state vis a vis Democratic aspirations of winning control of the Senate.