This shouldn't be happening. Why is Elizabeth Warren in for the fight of her life for that U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts?

Sure, she is running against Sen. Scott Brown, a moderate and a rising star in the Republican party. He is popular, but this isn't Texas. Ms. Warren is as liberal as they come, and she is running for Ted Kennedy's old seat. For both sides, it is the most symbolically important Senate seat at stake in November.

Ms. Warren was supposed to be close to a shoo-in, so much so that many career Democratic politicians stepped aside so Ms. Warren could bring Teddy's seat back into the fold.

Yet with less than two months to go, Ms. Warren's nearly 10-point lead has disappeared. She and Mr. Brown are neck and neck. In a poll released this week, Ms. Warren led 46% to 45% over Mr. Brown, a statistical dead heat.

That is actually an improvement for Ms. Warren, who was trailing before her speech at the Democratic National Convention last week in Charlotte, N.C.