I'm OK, you're Kay

All right then, what's the first name of the Democratic Senate nominee?

This one's so easy even the low-information voters should know it: Kay.

That's because Kay Hagan's campaign takes every opportunity to use her first name. Her Web site has links for "Where Kay Stands" and features "Kay Photos," "Kay Events" and "Kay Updates." Her campaign spokeswoman regularly refers to her as "Kay."

At first blush, this is a little odd. There's nothing politically problematic with Hagan's last name and she could presumably use her status as a state legislator to good effect with a lot of well-placed references to "Senator Hagan."

You'll notice, for example, that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaign goes out of its way to refer to her as "Mrs. Hagan" to avoid that pitfall.

Still, the "Kay" nomenclature is probably related to the Democratic gubernatorial nominee's use of "Bev."

Both are informal first names that make the candidate seem accessible and non-threatening. We wouldn't be surprised if one of them had even polled the usage. (Or seen the success of Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson...)

We'll know it's a trend if Dole starts referring to herself as "Liddy" — a nickname typically used by her close friends and her political enemies.