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Mike Allen: Sense of Democrats Is Republicans Have 60 Percent Chance of Winning Senate

Politico "Playbook" scribe Mike Allen said he felt there is indeed a "60 percent" chance that Republicans will overtake the majority in the U.S. Senate this fall.

"The sense of Democrats I talked to is it's more like 60 percent," Allen said. "They are very worried about a Republican Senate."

The number jibes with a prediction by FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver, who told ABC's This Week in March he felt the Republicans had a 60 percent chance to take back the chamber.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he and other Democrats are in talks about holding a vote to approve the Keystone Pipeline, which is popular with the American public and viewed as a sorely needed source of new jobs. Also, the State Department released a report that the project would not create substantial carbon pollution, which has not quelled widespread opposition among environmentalists and campaigning by left-wing billionaires like Tom Steyer.

Eleven Democrats, five of whom are up for re-election this year, have written a letter to President Obama urging him to approve the measure. Keystone has long had popular support with Republicans, but Obama has continually stalled, delaying a decision on it as recently as April 18.

"It's a sign how worried Democrats are about the Senate," Allen said.