Unlikely as it may seem, tiny Delaware is key to both parties' hopes of controlling the Senate after the 2000 elections.
Carper looks like new blood and has been a very popular, two-term governor.
Early polls put Carper up by over ten percentage points and he has effectively attacked Roth for failing to use his clout in the Senate to expand Medicare coverage of prescription drugs. But Roth has recently caught up in the polls, is well ahead in fundraising, and may yet succeed in ramming a prescription drug compromise through a Senate where the election has hardened ideological divisions. This race has important implications not only for the partisan balance in the Senate but also for the future of the Democratic party in the Republican-dominated South. But Nelson's moderate stands on issues like gun control may resonate better with Florida's demographically and ideologically diverse electorate. This election may tell us.