The stakes are high. In January, Senate Democrats will have at least 55 seats (plus Independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, who caucus with them) -- leaving the party just three short of a filibuster-proof majority. "Retaining the (Chambliss) seat is clearly strategically important to stop liberal overreach," says Dirk Van Dongen, the president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, one of the groups that's now working hard to help Chambliss in his race against Democrat Jim Martin.

                                                                                                    -- Peter H. Stone