Republicans' 2006 Senate prospects sour

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Republicans' 2006 Senate prospects sour
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/100505.html
This is not how Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) hoped things would turn out.
High-profile candidates she hoped could defeat incumbent Democrats are shying away from 2006, and some of her own Republican colleagues are looking vulnerable.
On Monday, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) bowed out of a race next year against Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). Late last week, Gov. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said he wouldn’t challenge Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) next year.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which Dole chairs, has failed to recruit candidates it considers top-tier in Michigan, Florida and Vermont; no one is challenging Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.); and Republicans are embroiled in primaries in Nebraska and Rhode Island.
Tennessee, which has twice backed President Bush, is giving some Republicans heartburn, with the GOP Senate contenders attacking their opponents’ conservative credentials while Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) outfundraises his Republican rivals and aggressively canvasses the state.
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