Could a Republican Senate be good for Mrs. Clinton?

[Potatoe]

If the Repub Senate is as big government as her of course.

I don't get it, are you calling her fat or something?

[Potatoe]

Arguably, a Republican House could be good, but I think Hillary would be best off having Democrats in control of the Senate so she could at least get people appointed. Having to deal with a GOP majority would be a nightmare. She might literally be unable to fill her cabinet.

The question is about whether a GOP controlled Senate in 2015 and 2016 would be good for Clinton's campaign.

There is an argument that Democrats are favored to make gains in the Senate in the 2016 elections as the group that came in with the tea party wave faces a friendlier (to the Democrats) electorate, as Republicans are expected to defend 24 seats compared to ten for Democrats.

Pick-up opportunities for Democrats include Arizona (if McCain retires or loses a primary), Florida, Illinois, Iowa (Grassley's popular but in his eighties), New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Republicans might hope for competitive elections in Colorado and Nevada.

The Republicans will probably lose a few Senate seats in 2016, but some of those blue-state Republican senators are probably strong enough to win despite a Hillary victory. Personally, I think that Kelly Ayotte in NH would be hard to beat if she runs again, and if the presidential election became pretty close and Hillary barely won FL, Marco Rubio would probably end up winning by a decent margin. Portman also seems like a great fit for OH, so I don't believe he would be that easy to unseat. All three of these candidates seem uniquely suited to their states the way that Dean Heller was a great match for NV in 2012 even though Obama won there. Further, if Republicans somehow manage to win significantly more than six seats in 2014, and end up with 55-56 Senate seats, I could see the election shaping up to be like 2000, when the Republicans still lost several seats but managed to hold control.

I'll put myself on the record as saying if Hillary wins by less than 5 points, I think she will have a hard time delivering the Senate to the Democrats, but if the current polls actually accurately show the reach of Clinton, and she wins by 10 points, she will have a Democratic Senate.

Both Rubio and Ayotte are largely hurt by the fact that they are quite unpopular, and Rubio's getting crazier by the day.