Republicans need a net gain of just four seats to take control of the Senate. But already, Rep. Todd Akin's comments are making it less likely that Republicans will be able to count on Missouri to carry them to the majority in the Upper House.
This afternoon, the Cook Political Report removed the Missouri Senate race from the "tossup" column and placed it in the "likely Democrat" row.
The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza made his NOW debut today to talk about the impact Akin could have on races aside from his own.
Since that took up much of the time, we were unable to ask him about a recent column on "The Fix" website, outlining the G.O.P's other potential down ballot concern: Rep. Paul Ryan. According to Cillizza's team, Ryan and his Medicare could sway five races (listed in the above graphic) and potentially put the Republican Party's dream of controlling both houses of the legislature at serious risk.