You can’t beat somebody with nobody, but if Democrats had somebody, they just might be able to upset Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) next year.

A poll released Wednesday by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee suggested that Dole, once an iconic figure in the Tar Heel State, could be vulnerable.

The poll of 606 likely voters, conducted Feb. 7 and 8 for the DSCC by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group, found that only 35 percent of those surveyed said they would definitely vote to re-elect Dole in 2008. Another 26 percent said they would consider somebody else, while 23 percent said they would definitely vote for someone else.

But when it came to Dole’s job performance, the first-term Senator did somewhat better. Forty-nine percent of the survey’s respondents termed her performance as excellent or good, while 46 percent described it as poor or fair.

The poll had a 4.1 percent margin of error.

Despite whatever good news the poll brought national and state Democrats, they still don’t have a challenger to Dole lined up — yet. If the Garin-Hart-Yang poll tested the Senator against any potential challengers, the Democrats aren’t saying.

— Josh Kurtz