Projected New Senate: 48 Democrats 51 Republicans 1 tie
News from the VotemasterLots of new polls today as Zogby has released his August batch of the battleground states Here are the results:
Some good news for both parties--in different ways. For the Republicans, they are still ahead overall. That's what counts. Also important is that Jim Talent is pulling ahead of Claire McCaskill in Missouri, one of the tightest races in the country. Without Missouri, it is hard to concoct any scenario in which the Democrats retake the Senate. On the other hand, there is also good news for the Democrats. The biggest news is that former Reagan Navy Secretary turned Democrat Jim Webb is now ahead of incumbent Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) for the first time in any poll this year. While Allen has apologized many times, support in the African-American community for Webb, no liberal by any means, is solidifying. Losing this race would not only cost the Republicans a key Senate seat, but it would mean eliminating one of their top contenders for President in 2008. Also encouraging for the Dems is Nevada, where Jack Carter has pulled to within 3% of incumbent Jon Ensign (R-NV). Furthermore, Rep. Harold Ford is within shooting distance of former Chattanooga mayor, Bob Corker in Tennessee. Virginia, Nevada, and Tennessee are not on the media's radar (yet), but watch them closely. The Democrats have to win at least one of them to be able to capture the Senate. For the record, Zogby didn't release a poll in Montana, and the Maryland poll showing Ben Cardin ahead of Michael Steele by 9% is iffy since Cardin hasn't been nominated yet. And as usual, note the that map reflects an average of a week's polls, so Virginia hasn't turned blue yet due to previous polls where Allen was ahead. Click on "Map algorithm explained" for the formula used. This site has far more about the election than just the map. See the Welcome page for more details. If you like the site, please link to it to improve its Google PageRank and tell your friends about it. -- The Votemaster |