Fellow Democrats Fret and Fume as Torricelli Campaign Struggles

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — Prominent national Democrats now regard Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey as their party's most vulnerable Senate incumbent, prompting concern that his endangered seat might cost Democrats control of the Senate.

Many Democrats said they had expected Mr. Torricelli to overcome his ethics troubles more easily. Instead, his predicament has roiled the party and stirred resentment toward him among fellow Democrats.

Some of them say that Mr. Torricelli's wounds are self-inflicted and that he opened himself to attack — not to mention gave ammunition to his Republican challenger, Douglas R. Forrester — by engaging in behavior that led the Senate Ethics Committee to reprimand him in July for improperly accepting gifts from a campaign donor.

Echoing a sentiment that is widespread among party leaders in and out of Congress, Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he now viewed Mr. Torricelli as the most endangered Democratic incumbent in the Senate.

"Torricelli's is the tightest," Mr. McAuliffe said in an interview this week, referring to Mr. Torricelli's race. "He's dead even at best."

Some Democrats also say they are concerned that the party's focus on New Jersey threatens to limit the money and other resources that are available for other Democrats.