Charlie Cook Doesn't Mince Words

From his weekly newsletter:

The terms "gruesome" and "psychologically devastating" come to mind when thinking about the political developments over the last six weeks for Democrats.

Last week was a particularly bad one by any standard. In a matter of a few hours last Tuesday, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter unexpectedly announced their decisions not to seek re-election, and Michigan Lt. Gov. John Cherry, the all-but-certain Democratic pick for governor, apparently decided his party's nomination wasn't worth having.

So this weekend's news about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's relapse of foot-in-mouth disease was just a cruel ending to an awful week.

That's from his weekly email newsletter. His online column tells a similar story. "The Democrats' 60-40 edge in the Senate -- not counting the vice president's ability to break ties -- makes it almost impossible for that chamber to switch," he says, "but a four-to-six-seat Democratic loss seems most likely." Maybe. But if I were a GOP operative, reading Cook's stuff might convince me that a party switch is indeed in the offing.