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As bad as things were for Democrats on Nov. 4, it appears they could have been even worse. Witness: A new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute.

The poll shows that19 percent of Republican voters made up their minds in the final week of the campaign.By comparison, nearly one-third 31 percent of Democratic voters say theydecided in the final seven days of the campaign (including 10 percent on Election Day).

Toput that in perspective, consider that the generic ballot favored Republicans 52to47. If you extrapolate those late-deciders onto those numbers,around 10 percentage points worth of the GOP's 52 percent of voters would have decided to vote Republican in the closing days, while 14.5 pointsof the Democrats' 47 percent held out that long including about five points until the final day.

Before those late deciders ... well ... decided, the GOP would have led by about nine or 10 points on the generic ballot, at least according to this poll. (Again, this is rough math.)

Had those late-deciders broken more evenly, or a few extra points' worth of Democrats decided not to vote at all, it's possible that the GOP's 52-47 margin could have been even bigger, and maybe we'd be talking about more GOP House seats and/or a 10- or 11-seat GOP gain in the Senate rather than a likely nine-seat gain (with the possible additions of states like Virginia and New Hampshire).

That's all very hypothetical, though, and these are national numbers not focused on key Senate races -- so they are only so useful. Also, it's quite possible those Democratic late-deciders are simply partisans who weren't all that enthusiastic about voting and, thus, didn't technically decide until the very end, even as their votes were basically foregone conclusions.

But for what it's worth, exit polls in Georgia, North Carolina and Iowa all showed much the same thing: Republican Senate candidates leading by substantial margins amongearly-deciders, and Democratsleading by several points or more among late-deciders.In Georgia, for instance, people who decided their vote in final week favored Democrat Michelle Nunn, 50-43. People deciding earlier favored Republican Sen.-elect David Perdue, 55-43.

Andfor Democrats fretting about just how bad last week was, these polls suggest at least to some degree thatthey dodged another bullet or two.

Aaron Blake covers national politics and writes regularly for The Fix.

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The Fix: The 2014 election was very bad for Democrats. It was almost even worse.

TALLAHASSEE Demoralized after their brutal midterm election losses, Florida Democrats are once again battling each other and now face an even tougher challenge of rebuilding.

"It's hard. It's rotten. It's depressing," said Allison Tant, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, who promises to press ahead and finish her four-year term. "But I'm not going to walk away just because it's gotten harder. I don't have that in me."

Democrats' explanations are many: not enough money, not enough good candidates and an unfocused message, especially to independent voters.

Tant on Thursday announced a task force headed by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to attack the party's most glaring weakness: a failure to recruit capable and well-funded candidates for the Legislature, Congress and statewide offices.

But rather than unite, some Democrats are pointing fingers and seeking scapegoats.

Their target is state Rep. Mark Pafford, a soft-spoken lawmaker from West Palm Beach already chosen by his colleagues to lead the 38-member House Democratic caucus for the next two years. Humiliated by last week's losses, some Democrats want to replace Pafford with Rep. Dwayne Taylor of Daytona Beach.

Tant is furious at what she calls a "circus" and is calling out Pafford's critics as "bed-wetters" on the eve of a public vote Monday in Tallahassee.

"I'm pretty tired of this whole circular firing squad thing," Tant said as she pounded her fist on a conference table in an interview with the Times/Herald. "I'm ready for the bed-wetting to stop."

Gleeful Republicans are enjoying the Democrats' latest episode of divisiveness.

"Talk about a fistfight in a phone booth," said Republican strategist and lobbyist J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, who has been on both sides of epic political battles. "When there's just a handful of you, you need to stand back-to-back."

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Depressed by 'rotten' results, Florida Democrats struggle to move forward

Republicans Unable To Deter Obama On Immigration Reform

By: Phil Owens

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Republicans Unable To Deter Obama On Immigration Reform - Video

Washington President Obama appears set to go big on immigration policy, even though a unilateral move is sure to stir up furious opposition from Republicans, who will soon have full control of Congress.

That picture became clearer Thursday as news reports cited Obama administration sources saying the president's promised executive action could provide legal status for as many as 5 million immigrants who currently lack it.

The move could win Mr. Obama resounding praise from pro-immigrant groups, but would draw intense opposition from Republicans and further sour relations between the president and lawmakers on issues that go well beyond immigration.

Both sides agree on the need for immigration reform, which could pair new border-security efforts with an acknowledgement that many immigrants now in the United States illegally should be granted legal residency and potential paths toward citizenship.

But with legislative efforts currently stalled, Obama pledged to take actions on his own after last weeks election. His announcement could come next week.

According to reports from The New York Times and Fox News, a centerpiece of Obamas expected announcement will be to grant a reprieve to the parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents. They would no longer need to fear deportation when they seek jobs.

Republican critics call Obamas anticipated move a nuclear option on a sensitive issue that deserves to be settled through traditional legislation.

A new Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll finds that most Americans agree with that view.

The Obama administration has said any executive action can be superseded by legislation that is signed into law, and it has encouraged the Republican-led House to act on comprehensive reforms that have passed the Senate.

House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio warned last week that an executive action would poison the well, reducing rather than enhancing the chances for legislation to pass. Still, he acknowledged an urgent need for the nation to have immigration reform.

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Immigration: Against GOP warnings, Obama appears set to go big

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Sally Kohn is an activist, columnist and television commentator. Follow her on Twitter: @sallykohn. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Whether or not we reform our nation's immigration laws may all come down to cantaloupes versus cojones.

Last year, Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King attacked undocumented immigrant children in America, saying, "for every one who is a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they have calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."

Sally Kohn

Colorful though it might have been, that characterization is not only insulting but completely incorrect. Still, it reflects the underlying sentiment of many Americans who oppose immigration reform not just on rational grounds, but based on a deeper, emotional bias.

Then you have everyone else in fact, the strong majority of Americans who support comprehensive immigration reform, including a workable path to citizenship. This crowd certainly includes President Obama and Democrats, who have reiterated that passing immigration reform is one of their key legislative priorities. And it presumably includes leaders in the Republican Party, who want to curry favor with business interests and Latino voters who support fixing our nation's broken immigration system. So the question is: Do Republicans have the cojones to ignore the "cantaloupe caucus" and do the right thing?

As a refresher, here's where things stood before the election: In 2013, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed bipartisan legislation that would create a workable path to citizenship for America's undocumented immigrants while at the same time ensuring our immigration system and borders works as they're supposed to for the future. Although Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, the measure reportedly had enough support from individual Republicans, as well as Democrats, to pass. But House Speaker John Boehner wouldn't allow the measure to come up for a vote. And so it stalled.

In the wake of Republicans failing to take leadership, President Obama said he would consider executive action to do what he could on his own, under his constitutional authority, to provide relief to millions of undocumented immigrants. The President held off such action before the election. Now, if Republicans again fail to act, executive action is back on the table.

At a press conference following this year's midterm elections, President Obama said: "I feel obliged to do everything I can lawfully with my executive authority to make sure that we don't keep on making the system worse, but that whatever executive actions that I take will be replaced and supplanted by action by Congress. You send me a bill that I can sign, and those executive actions go away."

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GOP, your chance to lead