The repugicans are worried

The repugicans have moved beyond nervousness and into flat out worry as the nation heads into the homestretch of the 2014 election. At the House level, repugicans are being outspent and their candidates are underperforming compared to 2010.

Politico interviewed a dozen Democratic strategists and repugican hacks who all agreed that at best repugicans will pick up five seats in the House.

The strategists also agreed on other main points,

The repugicans are convinced they’ll be significantly outspent by Democrats — in contrast to the 2010 midterm election when the repugican cabal overwhelmed their opponents with an avalanche of cash.

The rpugican cabal hacks are particularly worried about the performance of a handful of candidates who are well positioned to win but seen as running poor campaigns. Three candidates are mentioned repeatedly: Florida Rep. Steve Southerland, Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry and Virginia repugican Barbara Comstock.

Nearly a year after the government shutdown, repugicans privately say the cabal’s tattered public image is dragging down candidates in key races.

House repugicans are struggling to raise money, and the outside groups that they depend on are focused on the Senate races. Historically, the party out of power has gained 25 seats in the House during the president’s sixth year in office. The repugicans set a more modest goal of 11 seats, but it appears that they may not reach half of that number.

It was vital for repugicans to expand their House majority this year because in 2016, there could be a Hillary wave coming, and in 2020 districts will be redrawn again. Newly redrawn districts could mean the end of the current gerrymandered House.

The repugican establishment also desperately wants to give John Boehner enough of a majority to form a tea party buffer. The internal goal has been to reduce the tea party’s power in the House, but that is looking less and less likely to happen.

The best outcome for Democrats would be a small gain in the House. Democrats can talk about taking back the House, but unless repugicans do something incredibly stupid, like shutting down the government, it isn’t going to happen.

There will not be a repugican wave this year, and the nation could be watching the first steps towards a future Democratic takeover of the House.