It’s early to be talking about the 2006 election. We haven’t even had the 2005 election yet.

But Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Jean Hay Bright visited Lewiston Wednesday as part of her bid to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Hay Bright has her work cut out for her; so far she’s the only announced Democratic candidate, but even that could change. Snowe is wildly popular in Maine. She has carefully crafted a moderate image and built a coalition that includes labor and abortion-rights groups. A survey from the spring, in fact, showed that she is more popular among registered Democrats and independents than she is within her own party.

As the only challenger so far, Hay Bright is running far to Snowe’s left, counting herself as a member of the Dennis Kucinich-inspired “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party. Her campaign’s goal, as expressed during a meeting with the Sun Journal’s editorial board and during her appearance at Bates College Wednesday, is to paint Snowe as an enabler of President Bush and the Republican leadership in the U.S. House and Senate.

Hay Bright isn’t new to politics. She unsuccessfully ran for the House in 1994 and the Senate in 1996, but she’s far from an establishment candidate. She says she will be able to peel support away from Snowe when others have failed because she’s a pro-choice woman. Snowe’s other opponents have been pro-choice men, she says. A woman challenger, she says, is a bigger threat.

We’re not buying it.

In 2002, Sen. Susan Collins, another popular centrist, defeated pro-choice Chellie Pingree, an experienced politician with broad party support and plenty of money. Hay Bright lacks those assets and has raised less than $5,000 so far for her campaign, a paltry amount.

There are no sure things in politics. The mighty can fall, and sagging poll numbers for the president and the Republican-led Congress could provide momentum for a potential Snowe challenger. But if Democrats are hanging their hopes on Hay Bright, then they need to step up with cash and support (only a handful of people turned out at Bates to see her). Otherwise, the party had better to recruit a more mainstream candidate with some political muscle.

Pingree raised almost $4 million in her race against Collins – and lost. A serious challenger will need serious cash. Just to match Pingree, a candidate would need to raise $10,000 a day, every day, between now and next November. Whoever the nominee turns out to be – Hay Bright or someone else – has a mountain to climb. Like we said, it’s early. But not that early.