survey released Monday by the polling organization Gallup showed that likely voters favored a generic Republican candidate by as many as 15 points.

The results are from Gallup's Oct. 28-31 survey of 1,539 likely voters. It finds 52% to 55% of likely voters preferring the Republican candidate and 40% to 42% for the Democratic candidate on the national generic ballot -- depending on turnout assumptions. Gallup's analysis of several indicators of voter turnout from the weekend poll suggests turnout will be slightly higher than in recent years, at 45%. This would give the Republicans a 55% to 40% lead on the generic ballot, with 5% undecided.

Alan Abramowitz, Professor of Political Science at Emory University, determined that just a 13 point margin likely voters the the generic ballot could mean an 80 seat gain for Republicans.

But O'Reilly'spredictions of mass suicides at MSNBC may be premature because Gallup's survey indicates more optimism for Republicans than most other polls.

"A half-dozen independent media surveys conducted over the last two weeks have yielded narrower margins among 'likely voters,' ranging from a nine-point Republican lead to a two-point Democratic edge," wrote pollster Mark Blumenthal.

An average of polls other than Gallup's shows that Republicans only have just a five point lead on the generic ballot.