Given his assurance of caucusing with the majority party, this race matters much less now unless Democrats manage to pick up three of AK, CO, IA, NC. It looks like Orman will be a Republican soon.
Toss Up, Tilt D, Toss Up, Lean D
On what basis is Alaska, where the incumbent has not led an independent poll since before the Republican primary in August, more of a tossup than Colorado, where polling leads have exchanged throughout the last month? Even if you do want to trot out the theory that "Democrats do better than the polls in Colorado," it would seem the reverse theory has just as much evidence to support it in Alaska.
Alaska has exhibited an Incumbency bias in the past, so time will tell if it pulls through for Begich.
His ground game is unparalleled in Alaska as well. He's hitting the remote villages hard and may be able to generate some thousands of votes that could very well tip the race in his favor.