There's a lot of anxiety about terrorism among the country at large. There's also a feeling the country has stagnated.

As one conservative intellectual said to me - he said if the choice is between [Joseph] Stalin and [Adolf] Hitler, I'd pick Stalin, meaning Ted Cruz because he's more predictable. So there's real civil war inside the Republican Party.

The aftermath of this extraordinary election [2016] could be just as surprising as the race itself.

For Democrats, anything less than 15 net pickups will be a disappointing outcome [in presidency race].

The president is under 50 percent approval ratings in all the battleground states. So, you could say that President Obama is defying gravity by still being in a dead heat with Mitt Romney. And one of the reasons that he is, is because the changing face of the electorate are giving him a small boost.

The Senate is the big prize. Until recently, Democrats felt confident they could get the four seats they needed to take back control if [Hillary] Clinton is in the White House and Vice President Tim Kaine held the tie-breaking vote.

The winner's margin of victory also matters. If it's a squeaker, that will make the lessons learned for both parties much murkier.