Latest on the Senate race

Further to this post about the Democrats striving for 60 Seanate seats, CNN report that:

"Although Democrats gained a decisive majority in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, their hopes are fading for a filibuster-proof 60 seats.

Four hotly contested Senate races hang in the balance: Alaska, Georgia, Minnesota and Oregon.

Democrats needed to add nine seats to their current caucus of 51 (49 Democrats and two independents allied with them) to gain enough of a majority to push legislation through the Senate unimpeded.

It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture, a device to end filibusters, the unlimited floor speeches by an opponent that can prevent legislation from coming up for a vote.

Having added five seats Tuesday, Democrats would need to sweep the four remaining undecided races to reach 60.

A wild card in the Senate head count is Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who has caucused with the Democrats but who was an ardent supporter of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. If Lieberman switches his allegiance to the GOP, the Democrats cannot reach 60, and the filibuster remains in play."

More as and when...