The Democrats don’t have any easy targets in next year’s senatorial elections, but it’s interesting to see an emerging strategy they have. In 2008, the Democrats successfully ran Kay Hagan against Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina. Sen. Hagan is the niece of Lawton Chiles who served as both a senator and the governor of Florida. This seems to be a model for the 2014 campaign, with Alison Lundergan Grimes running in Kentucky and Michelle Nunn running in Georgia. Ms. Grimes is the sitting Secretary of State, but she is also the daughter of former Kentucky Democratic chairman Jerry Lundergan, who is a close ally of the Clintons. And Ms. Nunn is the daughter of former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.

Of course, the Republicans are dealing with something similar in Wyoming where Liz Cheney is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Mike Enzi. But that seems more like a rouge operation than part of a Republican strategy.

It’s interesting that these women all have the advantage of having a father who has already created some credentials. It’s given them a political leg-up, but Dubya taught us that the offspring is not necessarily the equal of the parent. Come to think of it, so did Evan Bayh.

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