Democrats Lose Confidence They’ll Keep Senate

“It’s shaping up to be an unpleasant 2014 for Democrats in the U.S. Senate,” Time reports.

“Republicans need a net swing of six seats to regain the majority in 2014. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t as hard as it appears. Democratic seats in South Dakota and West Virginia… appear certain to swing to the GOP. Republicans need to win three of four remaining competitive states with vulnerable incumbents — Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Alaska — to take the Senate. President Barack Obama lost all four states in 2012… Even the confidence with which many top Democrats have spoken of retaining the Senate has waned in recent days.”

“On Tuesday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid backed off a threat to utilize the so-called nuclear option to curtail the filibuster after weeks of escalating rhetoric. One reason may have been that Democrats knew they could soon find themselves in the minority instead of the majority, and thus becoming the victim, instead of the beneficiary, of Reid’s threatened reforms.”

Smart Politics: Will Democrats run a candidate in every Senate race?