Having 53 R senators will be the bare minimum needed to maintain a 50-50 head count considering Romney, Murkowski and ??? are un-reliable R votes.
You’re right.
I, too, have been looking at 53 as the new republican Senate majority. But I may have been too pessimistic. In my current State of Washington, it looks like long time non-entity Patty Murray is in trouble as is Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire. I suspect that in another four weeks, the list may grow by one or two more.
Hoping and voting.