As the late Casey Kasem would have said: “And now, on with the countdown . . . number six”. In the 2014 election, that can mean only one thing: the chance of Republicans making a net gain of six Senate seats and regaining control of “the world’s most deliberative body” for the first time since giving it away in the 2006 midterm vote.

What’s the easiest way to count to six? Try: by units of three.

The first set-of-three: those Senate races that most handicappers seen as no-brainer Republicans pick-ups. That would be Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia (for all the fuss about a tightening race in South Dakota, Republican Mike Rounds has a 12% lead per the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls).

The next trinity: whistling Dixie — Democratic incumbents holding on for dear life in Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. The RCP averages show a 5% lead for GOP Rep. Tom Cotton in Arkansas, a 4.5% lead for GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and a 1% deficit for GOP Assembly Speaker Thom Tillis in North Carolina.

After that: it’s late October, but pack your winter clothes away — Democratic-held seats at risk in permafrost Alaska, Alpine Colorado and pumpkin-front Iowa. More RCP averages: GOP Rep. Cory Gardner leads by 3.3% in Colorado; Republican Dan Sullivan is up 2% in Alaska; Republican Joni Ernst leads by 1.7% in Iowa.

Next up: one sleeper and two dare-to-dreams — Democratic-held seats in New Hampshire, Minnesota and Virginia. Republican Scott Brown trails by 2.2.% in New Hampshire (there’s your sleeper – 2% being a danger zone for Democrats going into the home stretch); a 10.5% deficit facing Republican Mike McFadden in Minnesota; Republican Ed Gillespie trailing by 11% in Virginia.

Finally, the triple-Aleve headache for the GOP — Republican-held seats in Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia which, should they flip, complicate that Republican net-pickup of six seats. GOP Sen. Pat Roberts trails by 0.6% in Kansas; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leads by 4.4% in Kentucky; Republican David Purdue leads by 0.5% in Georgia.

If those numbers held up through Nov. 4 (and keep in mind they’ll move as we get more polling closer to the election) Republicans would pick up 8 Senates, lose one in Kansas and come agonizingly close in North Carolina.

Then again, seven of these races have a spread of 3.3% or less.

One race — Louisiana, where the margin is 4.5% — may end up as a two-candidate December runoff.

3+3=6.

6/3=2.

So let’s revisit the six-pack two days before the vote, to see what-all’s changed.

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