2008 was such a disaster that in 2014 Maine is the only non deep red state to elect a Republican senator so that is the only state where a seat could be lost, unless there is a third party split in some other states. So that is good news.
Bad news though is that some of those Demo incumbents are really well entrenched. Hard to see Franken getting beaten now. I had thought Shaheen would be vulnerable but NH lurched to the far left this year. Unless there is a tremendous GOP tsunami I can’t see Durbin going anywhere. Even if Louse-enberg retires (is he 90 yet??) another Dem will probably win in NJ.
GOP pick up chances are probably best in AK and SD, and I they are gearing up already to go after Landrieu in LA. Even a gain of a few seats will at least be a step in the right direction.
I think that Sen. Franken might lose. He won with about 42% of the vote. The Republican, Norm Coleman, got about 41.5%, and most of the rest was won by the MN Indepdendence Party candidate. If all anti-Franken candidates cooperate, to defeat Franken, he’ll probably lose.
Sen. Lautenberg will have his 90th birthday in Jan. 2014. I hope that Gov. Christie will run for that seat. I hope that Gov. Roemer will run against Sen. Landrieu.
I live in Illinois, and, two days ago, I became the campaign manager of a Chad Koppie, a conservative Republican who hopes to replace Sen. Durbin. Chad has been a school board member, township trustee, and a member of a county school board. In 1998, he was the only conservative who ran for governor, in our GOP primary. Chad got almost 20% of the vote, although he didn’t spend much money. He’s pro-tax cuts, pro-spending cuts, pro-life, and pro-gun rights.