GOP Faces Uphill Battle for Senate in 2010

Moderate GOP votes up for grabs mean 56 could be Dems' new 60

(NEWSER) - Yesterday's Senate vote to end debate on the jobs bill showed that losing the supermajority may not be such a disaster for the Democrats after all, writes Nate Silver. Scott Brown joined four other moderate Republicans in voting to end a filibuster on Harry Reid's jobs bill, suggesting that a bipartisan outcome is possible even when a bipartisan process is abandoned—as happened with yesterday's bill, Silver writes at FiveThirtyEight. More»

(NEWSER) - Jeb Bush put an end to feverish political speculation today and announced that he will not seek Mel Martinez’s Florida Senate seat in 2010, the Chicago Tribune reports. The former Florida governor was widely reported to be considering a run—even his father had publicly encouraged the idea. “Now is not the right time to return to elected office,” Bush said in a statement. More»

DeMint's tactics cost party a majority, senators complain

(NEWSER) - While their counterparts in the House are celebrating a historic win, Senate Republicans are pointing fingers over their failure to recapture the chamber. Some prominent senators and party operatives blame Sarah Palin and South Carolina's Jim DeMint for helping candidates too conservative to win gain the GOP nominations in Colorado, Delaware, and Nevada. "If you think what happened in Delaware is ‘a win’ for the Republican Party then we don’t have a snowball’s chance to win the White House," says Sen. Lindsay Graham. More»

Christine O'Donnell now a force in Delaware primary

(NEWSER) - The Delaware Senate candidate who has spoken out against masturbation has become the latest object of Sarah Palin's affection. Palin has officially endorsed Christine O'Donnell in her primary race against long-time GOP congressman Mike Castle, Slate reports. Palin met with O'Donnell last month after critics viciously attacked the candidate for her lack of experience and positions, highlighting her opposition to masturbation because the Bible-thumper believes "lusting in your heart" during masturbation is the same as adultery. More»

GOP would need to stage three or four massive upsets

(NEWSER) - Republicans are hoping to clean up this November, but they can pretty much forget about taking over the upper chamber, David Catanese writes for Politico . The GOP needs to gain 10 seats to take over, and they have decent odds in six or seven contests. But to pick up those last four or five votes, Republicans would need to win in virtually impervious Democratic strongholds. More»