ONE WEEK – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  The election will be held a week from today.  Actually, there has been early voting underway in a number of states.  First reports follow the predictions – Republican participation in early voting is higher, in some cases much higher, than it has been in similar elections.  Republicans are guardedly optimistic.  From The Hill:

The final week in a two-year war for control of the Senate is going down to the wire, with Republicans confident they’ll net at least the six seats they need to gain a majority during President Obama’s final two years in office.

Republicans are all but assured of winning the open seats vacated by retiring Democrats in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia and have a very good chance of ousting Democratic incumbents in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana.

The GOP also believes it will win an open seat in Iowa, where Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst is in a dogfight with Rep. Bruce Braley (D).

Democratic incumbent Sens. Kay Hagan and Jeanne Shaheen are polling better in North Carolina and New Hampshire, respectively, but those races aren’t sure things for the party either.

Nothing is certain in an unpredictable election year in which incumbents in both parties have come under fire.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) faces a tough Independent challenger in Greg Orman, and Democrat Michelle Nunn has made a run on Republican David Perdue, putting a once safe Republican Senate seat at risk.

“We’re seeing an unusually large number of very, very close races,” said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at The Cook Political Report, a prominent handicapper.

Still, the $4 billion midterm campaign is ending with Republicans feeling bullish that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will unseat Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as majority leader.

“The pundit class on both sides of the aisle has focused too much on individual races that might be aberrant. The overall data is overwhelmingly positive for Republicans,” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist who served as a senior advisor to several Republican presidential candidates.

COMMENT:  I think that's an accurate picture.  The numbers seem to be with us, but, as we've said repeatedly here, nothing is in the bag.  And there is still a week for the classic October surprise.  Right now, though, I'd rather be a Republican than a Democrat.

October 28,  2014