?Handicapper: GOP Losing Ground in November Elections

Retirements, scandals and a GOP president at the nadir of his popularity: congressional Republicans just can’t seem to catch a break this election year. And, if you can believe one well-respected campaign handicapper, the effects are becoming more and more tangible.

In the House, for example, 21 seats currently held by Republicans are considered a “toss-up,” according to the latest analysis from the Cook Political Report, released last Thursday. That’s up from 14 just a month before. (Toss-up seats now held by Democrats remained steady at six.)

In the Senate, Cook’s latest report came last month, with Republicans gaining (losing?) one additional toss-up seat since the previous analysis: Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, considered in March to be November’s likely winner, is now in a horse-race, Cook reported.

No wonder Tom Delay told The Washington Times last week that 2006 was hardly the bottom for congressional conservatives. Karl Rove legacy indeed…