Senate prospects seem brighter for Democrats

Craig incident adds to GOP woes with 22 seats to defend in 2008
By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC

WASHINGTON - The last Democratic president to enjoy a filibuster-proof Senate majority was Jimmy Carter 30 years ago.

But it now looks possible that in next year’s elections the Democrats just might attain the 60 seats they need to foil Republican filibusters.

Democrats now have 51 seats, if one includes independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who calls himself an independent Democrat.

For the Republicans the 2008 numbers look daunting: there are 22 Republican-held seats to be defended, and six of them appear in jeopardy — not including, at this point, that of Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho.

The news Monday that Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges stemming from a restroom incident at the Minneapolis airport is significant in the context of what is shaping up as an abysmal year for GOP Senate hopes.

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