The NRCC held an event today with some of their women candidates: Jackie Walorski, Martha Roby, Diane Black, Sandy Adams, Ann Marie Buerkle, and others.

All of their races are at least competitive, and most would be considered toss-ups or close to it. I asked the table what they were worried about in the final month of their campaigns — anything that keeps them up, or where they conclude, “if we can do X, we will win the race.”

The universal answer was the need to keep the grassroots energized.

“The grassroots have always put me in office, and it’s what has kept me in office, and I think it’s what’s going to send me to Congress,” said Diane Black, a Tennessee state senator and former state assemblywoman. “It’s about making sure the grassroots is working hard, and not taking anything for granted. Regardless of what the polls say, we always work like we’re three points behind . . . The grassroots is angry and scared, and they want a change.”

“I have always been outspent in every one of my races, and what I believe has really brought us across the finish line each time has been the grassroots,” said Sandy Adams, a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 2003. “The connection with the constituents and the people in the district. We run race, every time, like we’re ten points down. . . . In the primary, we were at a meeting and one of the ladies looked at one of my opponents and said, ‘I don’t know you, but Sandy comes here not just in election years, but she comes throughout the year, every year.’ So it’s always important to remember that grassroots connection and staying in touch with the people you represent.”

Several Republicans also said they were concerned about Democrats attempting a “national distraction” from the record of the past two years, although no one speculated on what form that distraction might take.