At Least 77 Democratic House Seats are Vulnerable

At the Dow Jones Private Equity Conference, WSJ Washington editor Jerry Seib provided information to the attendees from the Cook Political Report that showed as many as 77 Democratic seats are lost or a toss up come the November elections.

Seib said that he expected some tightening of races and that a WSJ/NBC News poll to be released tomorrow showed that tightening starting. He specifically mentioned California Senator Barbra Boxer closing her lead and said that Rand Paul's lead in the Kentucky Senate race was "evaporating".

Seib now believes that the Tea Party is the core of the Republican Party. When WSJ/NBC asked those who voted as Republican in previous elections if they were members of the Tea Party 50% said "yes".

According to Seib, Americans now believe that China will be the leading power in the next generation and that most believe that the next generation of Americans will be worse off.

Seib sees the potential for another party forming, not from the Tea Party (which he believes will control the Republican Party) but from a middle group that is not happy with either the Republicans or Democrats.