2. This doesn’t hurt the GOP’s chances of the taking the Senate all that much.

The idea that the GOP just frittered away its chance at a majority is at the very least problematic. Yes, their hill got steeper. But remember, RealClearPolitics rated this race as “Leans Republican” even when it looked like Castle would win. Castle is a Delaware institution, and he was polling below 50 percent against Coons. He wasn’t likely to lose, but neither was this seat the “gimme” for Republicans that many described.

Moreover, the GOP still has enough seats to play with to win control this cycle. It will be very difficult to sweep WA, WI, NV and CA (or bring WV and/or CT into the fold), but it isn’t impossible. And I’m not sure it is that much more difficult than winning three of the four. These races are not completely independent of each other – many of the same factors that make victory possible in Washington will make victory possible in Wisconsin. In other words, the odds of the GOP winning all four of those states aren’t that much different than winning three of them.