Outstanding

According to the ever-reliable Real Clear Politics, there's still 7 major races left to be decided. The big enchiladas, of course, are the Alaska and Minnesota Senate races. Then there's the Georgia Senate race, which looks to be heading towards a runoff. The runoff was automatic if a candidate gets less than 50%; at the last count, Republican Saxby Chambliss had 49.9% of the vote. I kid you not.

Then there's a handful of House races around the country. The one that should disturb Republicans most--boy, I've been saying that a lot recently, haven't I?--would have to be Virginia's 5th district. Democrat-turned-Independent-turned-Republican Virgil Goode is trailing his challenger by a couple hundred votes. It looks like he might be looking for work come next January.

If Goode loses, it might be a sign that the blue-ing of Virginia is happening on the local, as well as national, level. It's bad enough for the GOP to lose VA in a presidential race; what happens if it starts shedding Republican congressmen as well?

The same thing's happening in my home state of good ol' North Carolina. The GOP has lost two congressmen in the past two election cycles. Sure, both of them--Charles Taylor and Robin Hayes--were really brought down by their own mistakes. But if we can't win their seats back, that's a bad, bad sign.