AP: Forces align against Republicans in Senate races

[L. Coyote]

Forces align against Republicans in Senate races
JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS – 1 hour ago - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghd5kmk9Aw2u1RUz9oyav6Z30HdAD92JEQBO0


WASHINGTON (AP) — Even the top Republican in charge of the party's Senate campaigns concedes that the GOP will lose seats this year — the only question is how many.

With President Bush's ratings at rock-bottom, fewer Republicans signing up to vote, and voters nationally gravitating toward Democrats in public polls, the GOP is bracing for defeats in November that will expand Democrats' now razor-thin 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Democrats have solid chances of winning five seats, according to strategists in both parties and public polls, and realistic shots at picking off another three to five Republican senators. Republicans have only one good opportunity for replacing a Democrat, in Louisiana.

A quirk of the political calendar — Republicans are defending 23 seats this year to Democrats' 12 — put the GOP at a disadvantage from the start. Worse still, those include five Republican retirements — which typically make it harder to keep a seat — compared to none among Democrats.

The scent of defeat threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy: Republican donors are sitting on their hands, giving Democrats a nearly 2-to-1 advantage in fundraising ...........

===================
NRSC Waiting Out Alaska Primary
KYLE TRYGSTAD | July 30, 2008 | http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/07/nrsc_waiting_out_alaska_primar.html


The National Republican Senatorial Committee is in a tough spot .... NRSC chair John Ensign said today that the committee won't endorse a candidate in the Alaska Senate race until after the primary ...

"The candidates are on the ballot right now, and we're going to wait to see how that whole thing plays out," Ensign said. ....

Vic Vickers, one of the six challenging Stevens, has now said he's willing to spend $750,000 of his own money on the race.....

[C_U_L8R]

1. We are the forces we've been waiting for :-)