Dan Balz and David Broder at the Washington Post look at some of the races across the country and -- like the rest of the world -- they conclude that Tuesday will be a Democratic Day.
The only questions are: How big will the Democratic majority in the House be? Will the Democrats also take the Senate? Will Bush and Cheney flee the country after the impeachment hearings begin? Will we be popping the bubbly before or after midnight?
Charlie Cook: "It's very hard to imagine how the House majority does not turn over...Let's just say it's 20-35, but that the possibility of this getting bigger, is very real...The bottom line [in the Senate] is that it is more possible today than a couple weeks ago that Republicans could hold their losses to just four, or it could end up being the six." (via TPM Cafe )
New York Times: "Republican Party leaders [were] saying the best outcome they could foresee was losing 12 seats in the House. But they were increasingly steeling themselves for the loss of at least 15 seats...Democrats said they thought they were almost certain to gain four or five [Senate] seats and still had a shot at the six they need to take control."
And for the first time in its memory, the New York Times endorses NO Republicans for Congress.
Even red states now look like 'Republican killing fields.'
Two days before a bitterly fought midterm election, Democrats have moved into position to recapture the House and have laid siege to the Senate, setting the stage for a dramatic recasting of the power structure in Washington for President Bush's final two years in office, according to a Washington Post analysis of competitive races across the country.
In the battle for the House, Democrats appear almost certain to pick up more than the 15 seats needed to regain the majority. Republicans virtually concede 10 seats, and a split of the 30 tossup races would add an additional 15 to the Democratic column.
The Senate poses a tougher challenge for Democrats, who need to gain six seats to take control of that chamber. A three-seat gain is almost assured, but they would have to find the other three seats from four states considered to have tossup races -- Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Montana.
Ohio, the swing state that assured Bush's second-term victory, has turned into a Republican killing field. Republicans face the loss of the governorship and a Senate seat, and five GOP House districts are in danger of switching. Republicans fear the loss of other statewide races and at least one house of the state legislature.
Other GOP danger areas include Pennsylvania, where a Senate seat and five House incumbents are at risk, and Indiana, where Democrats could pick up three House seats. In New York, where Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) and gubernatorial candidate Eliot L. Spitzer (D) are cruising toward victory, Republicans are defending half a dozen House districts. . .
Republicans face difficulties in virtually every region. There are multiple opportunities for Democrats in Florida, Kentucky, Colorado, Minnesota and Arizona. Single seats are at risk of switching in California, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.
Graphic via The General.
Democrats Bush Politics News Election 2006 Republicans Congress Ohio Red States
