The lead story in Thursday's New York Times is a report on the rather surprising developments in some Senate races, developments that put the Democrats on the VERGE of taking back the Senate!
The story is
not online yet, but should be
here soon.
Six weeks before Election Day, the Democrats suddenly face new and unexpected opportunities to regain control of the Senate.
More from NY Times story to come:
In Virginia, a state that few expected to be seriously competitive, Republican Sen. George Allen looks newly vulnerable after a series of controversies over his racial views, strategists in both parties agree. In Tennessee, another state long considered safely red, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. has run an aggressive campaign that has put that state seriously in play. At the same time, Democratic challengers are either ahead or very close in five states now held by the Republicans: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, Rhode Island and Missouri. Most of these races are so tight that they could slip one way or the other in a matter of days, analysts in both parties agree.
It is CRUNCH TIME!
Time to crunch the Republicans' hopes of hanging on to majorities in the House AND the Senate!
Republicans are counting on their superior finances and large blocks of television advertising to hold the line. Democrats have their own vulnerabilities, particularly in New Jersey, where Sen. Bob Menendez has run behind his Republican challenger, state Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr., in recent polls.
... snip...
Some analysts now say there are enough Republican seats facing serious Democratic challenges to at least make it plausible. "There's a big difference in talking about six seats in play and not five," said Stu Rothenberg, an independent analyst.
Republican strategists acknowledge the intensely competitive map but say they are ready for it. "Anybody who says there's no way the Democrats could regain control of the Senate, that's just wishful thinking," said Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster active in numerous House and Senate races. "But there's a long way between could and would, and the Republican resource advantage is just now coming to bear."