Could Republicans lose 40 seats in the House? Hard to believe, but here’s the indispensable Mike Allen this morning:

THE BUZZ — Some senior House Republicans now think they could lose 40 or more seats if this is a wave election. One seat-by-seat GOP count has 37 goners, with 68 House Republican seats facing real races, and half to 40 of them in “in trouble.”
A HOUSE REPUBLICAN OFFICIAL SAYS THAT’S TOO HIGH: “The environment for Congressional Republicans is extremely toxic. We have a presidential nominee who is drastically underperforming and even losing in rock-solid conservative districts and a Republican brand that is badly tarnished. … Stu Rothenberg has stated that Republican losses could be anywhere from the high 20s to the low 30s. At this time, that is certainly possible.”

Also, this quote from Politico gets inside why the McCain folks are focused on PA:

“We have a real chance in Pennsylvania. We are in trouble in Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. We have lost Iowa and New Mexico. We are OK in Missouri, Ohio and Florida. Our voter intensity is good and we can match their buy dollar for dollar starting today till the election. It’s a long shot but it’s worth fighting for.”

UPDATE

E-mail:

If they have lost New Mexico and Iowa why are they campaigning in Iowa this weekend?