Club Mel

Welcome to your new job, Chairman Cornyn!

-- Thanks to Chambliss, your party will hold at least 41 seats. But you've already got two open seats to defend in '10 (FL and KS) and at least three others that could open up - KY, IA and PA.

-- Martinez was never a shoo-in. But the fact that FL CFO Sink opted to forgo a challenge had been good news for the GOP. Now, the floodgates will open. Already at least 6 GOPers, including Jeb, are interested. Would J. Bush clear the GOP field (and much of the Dem one)? Or will his brother's notoriety fuel a GOP revolt?

-- While Paterson and Blago face pressure to appoint a woman or minority, should GOPers try to replace their only minority senator with a white guy - especially when almost 1/3 of the '08 vote came from blacks and Latinos? This thinking could give ex-House Speaker Rubio an added advantage.

-- While FL is only one seat, both sides have a lot at stake here. Dems need to show that Obama's FL win wasn't a fluke, while the GOP wants to reassert its hold on the state. Let the games begin.