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Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Patty Murray touted Democratic candidates' fundraising advantage over Republicans at a briefing with reporters in Washington DC Tuesday -- but said that the outside money pouring in on behalf of Republicans is what keeps her up at night.

Murray said the GOP-aligned outside interest groups have spent more than $55 million in the races, and have outspent Democrats three to one. "So the only thing that stands between me and a long good night of sleep is the outside money that is coming into these races from Karl Rove and the right-wing billionaires that are funding these races and these campaigns across the country," she said.

A few other highlights from the briefing:

The Ricardo Sanchez Days Are Long Gone: "We're monitoring Texas," said Murray when asked if the Democrats could beat newly-minted GOP nominee Ted Cruz. But while the DSCC once talked up their chances in the Lone Star state, she made comments that implicitly acknowledged the high likelihood that Republicans will hold Texas: "I think the bigger issue there is that Mitch McConnell is now going to have potentially a much more tea party-oriented caucus and we have all seen the damage that that has done to our ability to govern, to find compromise, to move this country forward in a positive direction," Murray said. "So I think it's more their problem than ours."

Missing Lugar Already: Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., really has become one of Democrats' favorite Republicans since losing his primary to Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

"One of the things, the reasons you're seeing people so concerned about our country today is because they look at Congress as being unable to accomplish anything. And I look at this after having been 20 years here, and realize the reason we can't find compromise is because the House Republicans and more and more the Senate Republican caucus are controlled not by people like Dick Lugar or Ted Stevens or the leaders of the past who've said, 'I feel strongly about my position, but I understand that my job here is to govern.'"

Indiana Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly has also complimented Lugar in a recent television ad. But Lugar is apparently making peace with primary rival, possibly tempering Democrats' line of criticism against Mourdock a bit.