Cook shifts North Dakota

The Cook Political Report has long been the most revered ranker of Senate races in Washington.

So its decision to shift North Dakota into the "toss-up" column demonstrates that Democrats are having some success making their competitive case in a state many had already scored as a Republican pick-up.

Mark Mellman's poll is clearly the driving force behind Jennifer Duffy's decision, and as I wrote last week, his numbers are respected and can't be easily dismissed.

But we remain in a wait-and-see approach for these reasons: While GOP Rep. Rick Berg may have some visible vulnerabilities, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp's haven't been thoroughly exposed yet. How will she handle issues like the health care mandate, the extension of the Bush tax cuts and how to reform entitlement programs? Berg's been in the arena; Heitkamp hasn't been in the limelight for a decade.

There's also history. North Dakota has never elected a female to federal office. In 1992, Jocelyn Burdick became the state's first female Senator, but only to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband. She served for three months.

For those reasons North Dakota, doesn't yet make the cut in our own Monthly 10 list.

But Cook's move shows the Democrats have at least accomplished sparking a debate about a seat that had previously been off the radar.