Dems REALLY don’t want Maloney to challenge Gillibrand

I received an email yesterday from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee linking to three new stories about Kirsten Gillibrand’s re-election effort.

The headlines that the Democratic establishment wanted to resonate?

“Gillibrand’s cash advantage” (Politico)

“Gillibrand outraises Maloney By Nearly 3-to-1 (New York Daily News)

“FEC Senate reports flowing in; Gillibrand builds lead” (The Hill)

In the early game chess-match of an election campaign, building a war chest — and the impression of inevitability — is a big deal.

So far, Gillibrand seems to be winning that round. She’s also polishing her profile whenever possible, introducing Sonia Sotomayor at the Judiciary hearing and (according to her latest press release) accopanying President Obama to the NAACP conference.

That’s a lot of Democratic muscle for Carolyn Maloney to overcome. But her team released a poll last month suggesting that she would win a primary contest against Gillibrand by a narrow 2% margin.

Why are Dems so eager to avoid this contest? They’re convinced that Republicans will mount a full-throated effort to take this Senate seat and they think a centrist from upstate like Gillibrand has a better shot than Maloney in the general election.