Republican insiders have soured on the party's chances of winning a Senate majority this year, a new National Journal Political Insiders Poll reported Friday.
A poll analysis called the outlook "a stunning drop in optimism for a party that began 2012 confident it would regain control of the chamber."
Democrats now control 53 of the Senate's 100 seats but 23 of those Democratic seats are up for re-election this year. Only 10 Republican seats are up.
But prospects for a GOP takeover appear to be fading. Missouri, once thought to be a close contest, appears to have swung Democratic. And North Dakota, considered a Republican stronghold, is now too close to call.
The poll found 4 percent of Republican insiders saw the party's chances of winning back the Senate as high. The Journal called this finding "a free-fall in confidence from when National Journal Insiders were asked about Senate races in February."
At that time, 66 percent of Republicans were confident they'd win the seats needed for a majority. Last year at this time, the figure was 79 percent.
Democrats went the other direction. 59 percent of the party's insiders say odds are low they'll lose the majority. Seven months ago, 16 percent felt that way.
To read more: http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/09/-fineprint-font.php