If the work of the Democratic pollsters and media specialists threatens to overwhelm everything else, it is not because the party's field lacks interesting characters.

Democratic pollsters acknowledge the perils of a populist appeal, but they insist it can work sometimes.

Democratic pollsters counter that the image of "labor bosses" is just not that effective these days.

Democratic pollsters see Enron as part of the broader fears.

That is why Democratic pollsters have been urging their lawmakers to emphasize this theme.

But even a leading Democratic pollster said there was little indication of slipping public support.

It's also true, as one Democratic pollster put it in a conversation recently, that even a blind dog finds a bone now and then.

"Those two forces are playing off against one another," said Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster.

Geoffrey Garin, a Democratic pollster, said this year's election felt to him more like the one in 1986 than those of 1982 and 1992.

The issue is the key to "almost every race I'm involved in," says one Democratic pollster.