With less than 2 weeks to go before the 2006 election, we have an excellent idea of where things stand with respect to control of the senate in January. Whichever party wins 2 out of 3 of the races in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia is an overwhelming favorite to control the senate.
Unfortunately, that's bad news for us. Missouri is a coin toss right now and Republicans lead in Tennessee and Virginia. We need a strong push to get our 3 soldiers up that hill.
Missouri is the closest race in the nation at the moment.
Intrade predicts that
Jim Talent has a 50% chance of winning and Claire McCaskill has a 49% chance of winning.
Tennessee is the 2nd closest race. Intrade predicts that Bob Corker has a 60% chance of winning and Harold Ford, Jr. has a 40% chance of winning.
Virginia is the 3rd closest race. Intrade predicts that George Allen has a 61% chance of winning and Jim Webb has a 39% chance of winning.
Given how important control of the senate is to the future of our country, all Democrats should support these 3 candidates to the best of our ability over the next 2 weeks without reservation or equivocation.
Update: Republicans start with 40 seats (not up for election) and it is almost certain that if they win 2/3 of these close races they will also win: Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Arizona. That's a total of 40+8+2=50.