This morning, Kimberly Strassel’s column is the most laughable. The topic of Ms. Strassel’s column: Democrats dreaming of a 60-seat majority in the Senate. Serious people who’ve done their due diligence know that that isn’t going to happen. At best, they’ll wind up 3-5 seats short.

A quick recap of the numbers: Republicans must defend 23 seats, compared to 12 for the Democrats. Of those GOP slots, 10 are at potential risk: Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, Mississippi, Maine and North Carolina. The Democrats claim only one vulnerable senator this year, Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu. Depending on how big a day the party has in November, it is at least conceivable Democrats could get the nine seats they need to hit the magic 60.

Let’s start by taking Minnesota’s seat off the table. Al Franken could lose by 20 points this year because his party’s rank-and-file find him detestable. Testimony of that came at a recent event here in St. Cloud. One person showed up for the event even though the event was properly publicized. Next, take North Carolina and Maine off the map. Sen. Dole and Sen. Collins will be re-elected.

People have almost written John Sununu off. That’s a big mistake. He’s a strong closer and the GOP’s momentum, which the gas price crisis is fueling, make it very possible for him to overcome Jean Shaheen.

A month ago, people had written Bob Schaffer off, too. Then the gas price crisis issue gained momentum. We know it’s gained momentum because suddenly Mark Udall is doing photo ops on oil rigs. I’ve mockingly nicknamed him Oil Rig Mark. I’d be surprised if this race isn’t a photo finish. I wouldn’t be surprised if Schaffer won.

Something strange is happening on the Left Coast. There’s suddenly a pro-drilling majority in pro-environment California. How many Oregonians agree on that? I don’t have the answer but wouldn’t that change the dynamics of that race?

What’s at work here is that the GOP’s Beltway strategists have bought into the “it’s a difficult environment for Republicans” meme. As with most things that are common knowledge within the Beltway, that meme is a pile of BS. Here in the heartland, the energy issue is playing a huge role in the elections.

It’s time that the GOP knotheads living on the Beltway meme to get out into the heartland and find out what real people are thinking. They’d quickly find that the House’s oil uprising is having a huge effect on all the races.

Technorati Tags: Senate, John Sununu, Norm Coleman, Elizabeth Dole, Susan Collins, Bob Schaffer, Republicans, Jeanne Shaheen, Al Franken, Mark Udall, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Democrats, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog