This is the time in the cycle where each party’s House and Senate campaign committees go to war with each other. I exaggerate slightly, but only slightly; inevitably, those in charge of winning upcoming Senate races want to recruit sitting House members, and those in charge of winning upcoming House races want to have as few open seats as possible.

Right now, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is looking for candidates to take on Republican senator Richard Burr in North Carolina. Two of their top four candidates they’re trying to recruit are currently in the U.S. House — Heath Shuler and Bob Etheridge.

Shuler’s 11th district scores R+6 in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, meaning that recent Republican presidential candidates have run 6 percentage points higher than their national average; Etheridge’s Raleigh-area 2nd district is R+2. The 2006 edition of Michael Barone’s Almanac of American Politics writes, “Etheridge seems safe, but in an open seat contest this district could be competitive.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee will be licking their chops if either one gets the Democratic Senate nomination, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee will prefer a Democratic opponent who hasn’t demonstrated an ability to win a Republican district.