“Romney’s woes are preventing down-ballot Republicans from locking up races that should be sure things and staying competitive in races that were once competitive. The question is whether things stabilize soon, or get worse,” the strategist said. “One thing is clear: the hope that many Republicans once had — that the top of the ticket would push swing-state candidates past the finish line — dead.”

A senior Romney campaign official dismissed questions about Romney’s down-ballot impact as “galactically stupid,” calling it part of a lot of navel-gazing, a lot of bed-wetting going on among people.” The official said there’s a “symbiotic” relationship between Romney’s operation and key Senate campaigns and that GOP Senate nominees have stayed close to the top of the ticket.

Mitt Romney's problems may be the Republican Party's problems when it comes to the Senate. It wasn't long ago that the GOP was favored to take control of the Senate, but now, the party's chances have narrowed dramatically and the finger-pointing has already begun With Romney's negative coattails under discussion, his campaign is getting defensive:To state the obvious, the only time a senior campaign official describes questions about his or her candidate's down-ballot impact as galactically stupid is when everyone knows that that impact is going to be bad. If there's even a small chance your guy can be helpful, the answer to that question involves the words "we're confident." Also, "the Senate candidates are still willing to make campaign appearances with us" is not actually evidence that your candidate is helping anyone out, just that he's not (yet) completely toxic. But when your campaign is in meltdown and everyone knows you're losing and dragging the rest of the party down with you, galactically stupid navel-gazing bed-wetters it is.