The Big Three

According to this story, Republicans are focusing on three Senate races with hopes of preventing the Democrats from gaining too much ground and taking over the upper chamber in November. All three of these races (Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee) are exceedingly close; the extra money they will get by being the highlighted races could very well make the difference in all three. My early read on things is that the Republicans will win in Missouri, but lose in Ohio and Tennessee; however, I think any of these races could shift quickly.

The important thing, though, is the fact that this leaves several prominent Republicans out in the cold: Conrad Burns in Montana is seemingly left for dead, and Lincoln Chaffee, who received significant help against his very conservative primary opponent, doesn't seem to be getting any love under this new strategy. Rick Santorum also isn't mentioned here. The likely reason in each case is that the Republican's have written off these races. Probably a good idea, as only Chaffee seems to be within legitimate striking distance.

It's going to be a very interesting last month in the runup to the General Election. Watching where the resources go will speak volumes about which races the parties think are winnable.