There's no term limit on senators, senator. Stick around for the long haul
Once one looks beyond the basic features of a Hillary Clinton vs. some-white-guy race, there is the other looming problem the GOP faces, which is this:
they have a bunch of senators in blue or swing states up for re-election in a presidential year.
Just look at this list of juicy targets:
Marco Rubio, Florida
Mark Kirk, Illinois
Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire
Rob Portman, Ohio
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania
Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
All in all, there will be 10 Democratic seats up for grabs, versus a whopping 23 Republican seats. But what is even more awesome for our side is that these 7 seats noted above are in states where the presidential campaign is going to be heavily engaged. That's a big boost for Democratic turnout. One could possibly even throw in Georgia's Johnny Isakson, North Carolina's Richard Burr and perhaps even Arizona's McCain. That's a lot of territory to defend in a presidential year.
Even better, 9 out of the 10 Democrats who are up are in solidly Blue states. Only Michael Bennet in Colorado, a state getting more and more blue, is likely to face any real competition. Harry Reid is up, but we all know he's going to die a senator.
Expect these Republicans to also get challenges from the even more crazy nutcase fringe and we've got all the makings of a wave year for Democrats. We might even get some GOP retirements and get a crack at some open seats.
With Clinton at the top of the ticket, Democrats can focus on nominating the most progressive Senate candidates who can win. This would also mark an exceptional opportunity for Elizabeth Warren to recruit and support like-minded candidates and increase her stock in the Senate. Democrats can focus their primary election energies on the Senate and House races and leave the presidential campaign to Hillary. All while Republicans are sorting out their crazy nutcases in the presidential primary. Warren is already a senior senator with a safe seat and she is awesome. She will get even more awesome with some chits and a gavel.
Because really, that's the best thing for a more progressive government: Send Warren allies to the Senate so she may emerge a powerful, loyal but tough counterweight to a new Clinton Administration.
