Votes against him probably only look political. There's not enough distance between Democrats and charges of obstructionism on judicial nominees that should make them comfortable. It wouldn't take a whole lot for Republicans to dredge that issue up again and make it stick.

A lot of the problem here is there is no enemy, no common thing to rally around. You can't declare war on the weather.

There will be cover for Byrd in that group. I think there's a lot more tolerance of Byrd's questions about the war than there was.

I think that the (Democratic) party and their allies understand he has not had to run a campaign in a long time.

God help anybody who has to debate with Byrd.

Is it poor recruiting or a bad environment? Probably both.

So far, there's nothing to hang a rejection on.

I see Democrats picking up a couple of states. I think there is a slim chance they can pick up the Senate.

Even if it doesn't result in a sea of voters going to the polls to take their anger out on the White House, what it may do is keep Republicans at home. That's a problem for them.