Early Tennessee numbers suggest that Harold Ford’s late-campaign swoon was no mirage. Given the brilliant campaign he ran and the horrific national climate for the GOP, some have suggested that a Ford loss would indicate the South is not yet ready to elect an African-American to to the Senate. Of more immediate significance, though, is the pressure his defeat would place on Democrats in Virginia, Missouri, Rhode Island, Montana and Arizona to win their Senate races tonight. Without Tennessee, Democrats would need to win four of those five states to claim the Senate.
— Steve Kornacki