NBC/Marist: Kelly Ayotte at 50% in New Hampshire Senate race.

By Moe Lane | 10:00 AM on July 26, 2015

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

That’s a real nice poll result.

Also in NH NBC/Marist poll Ayotte leads Hassan 50-42% #NHSen

— amy walter (@amyewalter) July 26, 2015

…poll here*. Governor Maggie Hassan is still popular in New Hampshire – although that trendline is interesting – but she’s not going to beat an incumbent with numbers like that, and that is the way of it. If the Democrats lose her as a candidate then [mc_name name=’Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’A000368′ ] will have a smooth glide path for re-election. Heck, even if the Democrats keep Gov. Hassan as a candidate then with those numbers Senator Ayotte will still have a smooth glide path for re-election.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: So, you’re asking yourself: how do the Democrats flip the Senate if they can’t even flip New Hampshire? That’s real easy to answer: they don’t. At this point, the Democrats need to reassess their goals, in order to put more emphasis on “Don’t lose any Senate seats.” Admittedly, though, this stuff can change fast.

*And before anybody freaks out about the fact that Donald Trump’s leading in NH, please note – as NBC News reluctantly did – that this poll was taken pretty much mid-Trump’s McCain meltdown. 26% prior to Trump’s veteran comments, 14% after = the Trump campaign should please secure all loose items, and prepare for an emergency landing.