Is a narrow loss in Massachusetts a moral victory for the GOP?

“If this race isn’t decided within an hour after the polls close, you’ll have Republicans claim victory,” predicted one senior Democratic strategist in Massachusetts. “If it’s less than 9 percent, the rhetoric will be, ‘We just barely lost.’”

And if Brown does manage to shock the political world and actually win?

“If she loses, then we have a huge problem,” said a top Democratic official in Washington. “If you’re in the House, thinking about retiring, and you see the Kennedy seat lost, then you’ll probably retire.