[Mr_White]

TPM:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...10.php?ref=fpa
With nearly five months to go until Election Day, Republican hopes of retaking the Senate have dimmed and they're privately lamenting their lost opportunity. Until just a few weeks ago, Republicans considered winning a Senate majority a long shot but by no means out of reach. But the euphoria over Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts in January seems a distant memory now, especially after the latest round of primary results last week.

Primary victories by Carly Fiorina in California and Sharron Angle in Nevada bolstered a growing national narrative that Republican candidates are lightweights, or too outside the mainstream, to survive in the fall, and that could harm even top tier Republicans.
"There's now a path to 'acceptable losses' for Democrats," notes one cautiously optimistic Democratic strategist.


"I totally see how the number stops at five to seven [Republican pickups]" says a Republican consultant, speaking of an optimistic scenario for the GOP.

"Nevada is the one place that fundamentally changed," says a top GOP consultant, who now predicts Harry Reid will be re-elected. "I don't think Angle can win personally."
Professional GOPers are split over whether California Republicans elected the best possible candidate in Carly Fiorina, but broadly speaking there's little thought given any longer to the idea that Barbara Boxer's seat is still in play.