Across the South, polls show Republicans ahead before Tuesday's elections

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/11/across_the_south_polls_show_re.html#incart_river

Though Mary Landrieu is expected to get more votes than either of her two main Republican challengers in Tuesday's election, an NBC News / Marist Poll conducted Friday shows the Democratic incumbent losing in a head-to-head match-up with Bill Cassidy and losing in an head-to-head to match-up with Rob Maness.

According to that poll, if she were to face Cassidy in a Dec. 6 runoff, she would get 45 percent of the vote to his 50, and if she were to face Maness, she would get 44 percent to his 49. 

I think a poll showing her trailing Maness illustrates that.  He's never been elected to office, doesn't have a political record to offer and doesn't have the name recognition that Landrieu has. But he has an R beside his name, and I think we've reached the point in Louisiana where an R beside a name is enough to win against against a candidate whose name runs beside a D.  

Such a shift suggests their belief that the D is now deadly.