Chris Cillizza mentions...

...three close U. S. Senate races in his blog today:

In the Florida Senate race, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) is in a statistical dead heat with Gov. Charlie Crist (I) -- 36 percent to 34 percent -- with Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) taking 24 percent.

In California, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) is in a virtual tie with former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (R) -- 48 percent to 44 percent.

And in Kentucky's Senate race, ophthalmologist Rand Paul (R) and state Attorney General Jack Conway (D) are tied with 46 percent each.

I'll predict (again) that Marco Rubio will win in Florida, Kendrick Meek will finish second and Charlie Crist will fade into third by election day.

In California, Barbara Boxer will hold off the challenge from Carly Fiorina. (No way is the incumbent Democrat going to lose in the Golden State.)

And in Kentucky, voters will simply substitute one nut case, Rand Paul, for another, retiring Senator Jim Bunning.
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Cillizza also makes a reference to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's appearance at a breakfast yesterday:

While Barbour was tight-lipped about his own White House prospects, he spoke at length about another possible contender, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).

"Mike's got a following," Barbour said on Wednesday. "He was 10 years governor of Arkansas and was very much in the middle of things in 2008. He's got a popular TV show. If he chose to run again, I think he's got a starting place. But I think that's all anybody's got, is a starting place."

Barbour added that he expects the 2012 primary to be "a very, very wide-open nomination contest, but if Mike ran, I think he would be a formidable candidate."

What's that all about? My guess is that Barbour (and many others in the GOP establishment) would like to see Huckabee run in Iowa (where he is still popular after winning its caucus in '08), defeat Sarah Palin there, and nip her presidential aspirations in the bud.