Not a fair read of the article.

What the Globe said was *not* that Kennedy thinks this next race will be tougher. Rather, he thinks that in the past the rather genial, non-negative campaigns he's run -- which he's been able to do by being so certain of winning -- have left his opponents with high name recognition and low negatives, thus allowing them go to on to challenge *other* MA democrats. That's how gov Romney got his start, challenging Kennedy back in 1994.

As someone who lived in Massachusetts from 1992 to 2004, trust me, there is no Republican there who could mount a credible campaign against Kennedy except perhaps a Romney rematch. Those few Republicans with statewide recognition are all tarred with the Big Dig fiasco. Romney was immune by being a newly arrived outsider, though he's now got his own negatives. The GOP bench in MA is non-existant these days. If someone doesn't already have visibility and a war chest 16 months before the election, it's not happening.

The fact that Tom Daschle lost in a state that has gone solidly GOP for president the last several elections probably hasn't fazed a senior senator with name Kennedy in the most solidly Democratic state in the country. I'm no Kennedy fan, and I very much dislike the idea of dynasties, but Ted's got one of the safest seats there is in 2006.