From CNN's article on the Republicans' growing anxiety about their prospects in November:
Most of the party's top strategists expect significant losses in House and Senate races, with some predicting Democrats could cross the 60-seat mark in the Senate.
The current balance of power in the House is 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans, with one vacant seat last held by a Democrat. The current balance of power in the Senate is 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents who caucus with the Democrats (which gives Democrats 51 votes, and control of the Senate).
CNN spoke or communicated through email Friday with six leading GOP strategists, and the consensus heading into the final week was that Republicans would lose at least two dozen House seats, perhaps more. They also predicted the party would lose at least six Senate seats, and perhaps as many as nine.
See a slideshow about the increasingly gloomy prospects for the GOP across the board.
Top GOP strategists are expecting significant losses in House and Senate races.
Top GOP strategists are expecting significant losses in House and Senate races.
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According to CNN, the consensus is that the GOP will lose at least two dozen House seats, and as many as nine Senate seats.
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In Colorado, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling out of the battle for the state’s US Senate seat and will stop running ads supporting its candidate Bob Schaffer.
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Looking to bolster the Democrats push for 60 Senate seats, Barack Obama cut an advertisement for challenger Jeff Merkley, who is running in a close Senate race in Oregon.
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The GOP also appears to be heading towards defeat in the White House. The latest Newsweek poll has Obama leading McCain by 13 points.
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An article on how McCain could possibly still win the election in Friday’s New York Times noted that “there are a considerable number of Republicans who say, off the record, that the 2008 cake is baked.”
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Politico reports that the “blame game” has already begun heating up among Republicans, and that “top Republican officials have let it be known they are distressed about McCain’s organization.”
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Earlier in the week a top Republican official went so far as to say that Obama’s ground game was so much better than McCain’s “it’s scary.”
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In the Wall Street Journal Friday, a member of the paper’s editorial board wrote that McCain “doesn’t look competitive in Pennsylvania,” a state that is critical for McCain’s path to victory.
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On a conference call Friday, Obama’s strategists told reporters that their position in the race is very strong and that McCain’s pathway to victory in states such as Pennsylvania is a “daunting task.”
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