What sort of headaches can Dems look forward to in 2012?

Mike Riggs Contributor
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The Great Bloodbath of 2010 hasn’t even started, and already the seers are casting bones and burning rat tails with a glass eye towards 2012. From CQ:

Although most analysis is purely speculative at this point, there isn’t a lot of guesswork in the numbers: Of the 33 Senate seats up in 2012, 24 are currently held by Democrats or Independents who caucus with them. What’s more, all of the first-term Senators in this class were elected in a mid-term cycle and will likely face a different electorate in a presidential year.

“In ’06 we were able to eke out victories by riding a very strong national wave that gave us a couple extra points here and there, but we also didn’t have a presidential election going on at the same time that will have its own set of dynamics that will play a role,” said Phil Singer, the communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2006 cycle.

When the national mood was in Democrats’ favor in 2006, the party picked up six seats and won the majority.

Brian Nick, the communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2006, said that if the political environment is anything like it is today, then Republicans will have great opportunities in Senate contests in Virginia, Missouri and Montana during a presidential year.

“Those to me would be clear opportunities to beat freshman incumbents who won in an extremely tumultuous environment for Republicans,” Nick said.