One important aspect of understanding this election (assuming Obama wins) is whether the Democrats run the table in the Senate races and get to a filibuster-proof 60. If it’s a genuine 1980-change/wave election, they probably will. Not entirely a bad thing--they will be fully in charge, and can’t blame Republican obstructionism for their inability to govern. And then they will overreach.
I’m guessing they won’t. I predict Chambliss will hold on in Georgia, Wicker in Mississippi, Coleman in Minnesota, and McConnell in Kentucky. I’m afraid Gordon Smith in Oregon and John Sununu in New Hampshire will lose. The Democrats will also gain open seats in New Mexico, Colorado, and Virginia. This will leave them short of 60.
You forgot NC and AK, both of which will go Dem. They'll have 58 seats.
Good points. I never liked Elizabeth Dole; good riddance, I say. Ditto for Stevens. But it will still leave the Dems short of 60.
Stevens might surprise us in an odd way, if some Alaska voters decide re-electing Stevens would be a good way of giving the middle finger to the Lower 48 and the media for their treatment of Our Sarah.