Kay Hagan still has a future in Democratic politics. And we all think she has at least one more race left in her.

But that campaign is a rematch against Thom Tillis, not the ill-timed turnaround against Richard Burr promoted by reporters who’ve barely set foot in North Carolina outside an airport.

There is no modern precedent for a defeated senator to challenge the state’s other senator, and Kay Hagan is hardly the boat-rocker one could envision trying to make that history.

Kay Hagan ran a great campaign last year. She lost, mostly because of low turnout. But she still outperformed other Democratic incumbents. And in a presidential year, once voters get to know Thom Tillis, they’ll want her back.

But it’s too soon, and Richard Burr is the wrong opponent. That’s why Hagan needs to step away from the spotlight, reflect on her loss, and maybe serve in Hillary’s cabinet, while building a case for why voters should return her to elected office.

But it’s someone else’s turn against Burr. Janet Cowell would make a fine candidate. So would senate minority leader Dan Blue, or army veterans Cal Cunningham, Grier Martin and Jeff Jackson. Yes, that Jeff Jackson.

There is no figure in North Carolina politics more exciting than the 32-year-old state senator from Charlotte. Profiling Jackson last month, I found that he possessed the traits of a reformer, with the cunning it takes to win.

And Jackson will raise money out of state when people find out the guy who “Goes Off For 6 Minutes On All The Politicians Sitting Right In Front Of Him” is running for U.S. Senate.

The biggest knock is that he’s new to politics; equally an asset as much as it is a liability. And if 2016 is a foreign policy election, it’d help to have a veteran of the War in Afghanistan debating former lawnmower salesman Richard Burr.

But Jackson is also a brand new father, and North Carolina Democrats, used to seeing their rising stars lose and fadeout, need him in the North Carolina Senate.

Before running for statewide office or Congress, Cal Cunningham, Eric Mansfield, Hampton Dillinger, George Battle and Ken Lewis served a combined four years in elected office; and not a day since.

North Carolina Democrats can’t risk losing Jackson as a legislator and leader in Raleigh, even if he’s an attractive candidate against Burr. He might end up a governor or senator one day, even president, but he’s also our best shot for pushing redistricting reform through the General Assembly. And that’s more important right now.

And as the party rallies around a candidate in the coming months, it’s important to focus more on the message than the individual.

Next year’s senate race is poised to be the closest and most heavily contested in America, again. And we have the responsibility to set the tone for 2016 by learning the lesson of 2014; that Democrats can’t win without substance.

In the simplest of terms, liberals want change and conservatives don’t. And that makes Republicans better suited to win scorched earth elections, where the candidates appeal to anger rather than reason.

Beyond the inherent disadvantage of being the president’s party in a midterm, Democrats screwed up last year by running a negative campaign against the Koch Brothers, rather than offering the American people an agenda that will change their lives.

In a presidential year, with high turnout, Democrats have better odds of victory. But against the entrenched incumbent Burr, it will take an above average campaign to win. And that’s why we need an intellectual throw down, provoked by the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

If the Democrat runs against Art Pope, Charles Koch and Mitch McConnell, while echoing DSCC talking points and ducking the issues, they will lose.

If they make the race about real people instead of political process, and find a way to fill those people with hope, they will win. That’s what it all comes down to.

Nobody got excited about the candidates last year, in either party.

The answer isn’t to double down on silly politics, scripted debates and personal attacks. It’s to candidly and optimistically discuss the challenges North Carolinians face, and offer solutions that aren’t written by the interns.

So what matters less in terms of whether the candidate should be Blue, or Cowell, or Tom Ross, is their personal background and their fundraising connections. What matters more is their willingness and courage to run a real campaign.