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In a party where good news has been hard to find over the past two years, the current state of play in 2014 Senate races gives Republicans some reason to smile. \xa0 A combination of raw numbers, a shift in the political environment and some notable recruiting failures has handed Senate Republicans a realistic \u2014 but by no means certain\u2014 chance of picking up the six seats they need to win back control of the chamber. \xa0 This was always going to be a good election cycle \u2014 numbers-wise \u2014 for Senate Republicans. They are defending just 14 seats, compared with 21 for Democrats. And of those 14 seats, just one \u2014 that of Maine\u2019s Susan Collins \u2014 is in a state that President Obama won in 2012. By contrast, one-third of the Democrats up for reelection in 2014 represent states former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney carried in 2012.