Experts see trouble ahead for Democrats in Iowa, nationally
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON Democrats are finding that their path to keeping control of the U.S. Senate this year is getting bumpier.
At least four states where Democrats hold Senate seats that once were seen as fairly safe are now considered in play Iowa, Colorado, Michigan and New Hampshire.
They join seven states with Democratic incumbents where analysts see decent bets for Republican pickups Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried all seven in 2012.
The new four are now battlegrounds for the same reasons that plague Democrats elsewhere:
l The Affordable Care Act is detested in many circles.
l Anyone associated with Washington, D.C., is often toxic.
l And popular Republicans who are running for other offices are often on the ballot.
The common thread is that theres a Democrat in the White House whos not that popular, said Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan research group at the University of Virginia. It wouldnt be surprising if any of those states went Republican.
Republicans also appear more motivated.
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Experts see trouble ahead for Democrats in Iowa, nationally