In a non-gerrymandered world, the election of 2014 would have been decided today when the House passed the Ryan Budget almost unanimously. The budget, which kills Medicare, and cuts education and health care benefits to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy is a giant, poisonous anvil, just ready to sink the Republicans in 2014.
It may be a long shot because of gerrymandering, but it is an opportunity for Democrats to take back the House and actually gain in the Senate. The only question is whether Democrats will, as James Carville said, "throw them' the anvil.
The Ryan Budget looks like it is based on the exact opposite of what polls say people in the US want: People want to preserve Medicare, support education and raise taxes on the wealthy. (They even don't mind raising their own taxes to continue Medicare.)
Let us hope that the Democrats don't tie part of the anvil to themselves before they throw it, e.g., through chained CPI.