Big win will take Hagan only so far

RALEIGH -- For now, Democrat Kay Hagan has the power and celebrity befitting someone who has just toppled one of America's best-known political women. Come January, as a freshman in the U.S. Senate, she'll have to translate attention into action.

"She'll be visible because of who she's slain, that's for sure," said Andrew Taylor, a political scientist at N.C. State University. "She's the one who brought down Elizabeth Dole, but that and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee."

Hagan has legislative experience after a decade in the state Senate, but now she must figure out how to navigate a different club -- one made up of 100 egos, each one of which looks in the mirror each morning and sees a future president, the saying goes.

Plenty of Hagan's new co-workers already know her. She has been hosted at fundraisers across the country, and she benefited from millions of dollars in advertising from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, run by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Several senators visited the Tar Heel state on her behalf.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the calls poured in -- from Schumer, and from Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Nelson and Claire McCaskill. She appeared on the "Today" show.

"I think there's always this sense of, 'My gosh, I'm going to the United States Senate,' " said McCaskill, of Missouri, who slew her own GOP dragon, Jim Talent, two years ago. "I wanted to reassure her how well she's going to do. I wanted her to not feel intimidated in the least."

By Wednesday afternoon, Hagan didn't even acknowledge fatigue.

"I feel great," Hagan said in an interview at a Raleigh deli.

"Hey, Senator!" yelled David Morrow, reaching a hand out his car window in the deli parking lot. Two women rushed up to give Hagan hugs. Inside the deli, a young woman, Lauren Strohofer, yelled, "I voted for you."

Hagan's to-do list

Before she goes to Washington, Hagan must assemble an office staff. She wants to include experienced Washington workers and those from home who understand the diverse regions of North Carolina. She said she'll consider hiring from Dole's constituent services staff. In two weeks, she heads to Capitol Hill for three days of training.

She hopes to join two Senate committees: Banking, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, known as HELP.

Dole, who ends her term in December, sat on the banking panel. The state's other senator, Richard Burr, sits on the HELP committee, and it's unclear whether the Democratic leadership would want two senators from the same state on the committee.

Hagan didn't say whether she would try to elbow Burr off the panel.

"He and I talked this morning," Hagan said with a smile. Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, offered his congratulations and pledged to help Hagan with the transition.

With so many senators having tenures of two years or less, McCaskill said, Hagan won't be alone in her inexperience.

"She will be called on to contribute early and often," McCaskill said. "Frankly, the fresh perspective is what the place needs."

Still, Hagan would be wise to suppress expectations about her first few years, Taylor said, because many freshmen don't have the seniority to push through major bills. He recommended she find more senior senators to partner with and warned that at the end of her six-year term, she might not have a long list of major accomplishments.

Economy is a priority

Hagan said Wednesday that she wants to first tackle the economy, with an emphasis on creating jobs, though she didn't offer a ready list of specific suggestions.

"I certainly have got lots of ideas," Hagan said. "Give me a few days to put my transition team in place."

Hagan owes her victory in part to the onslaught of advertisements from the national Democratic committee. Like other freshmen, Hagan may feel some pressure during close votes, Taylor said.

"She'll be pulled in different directions by her state and the leadership of her party," Taylor said.

Not so, said Hagan. "I'm going to be an independent voice," she said. "I'm going to be beholden to people in North Carolina."

And Thad Beyle, a political scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the tug of loyalty can work both ways.

"The Democrats are also beholden to her because she ran a good race and she won," Beyle said. "So it kind of works both ways."