Complex sentence: The Democrats had few primary contests during the 1928 election, and contented themselves with a few jabs at the Republicans, and were generally considered to be poised to benefit from the enmity and strife taking place in the Republican campaign.
Split into simpler sentences: The Democrats had few primary contests during the 1928 election, and contented themselves with a few jabs at the Republicans. They were generally considered to have little to lose, given the enmity and strife taking place in the Republican campaign.