Posted on 07/29/2010 3:22:03 AM PDT by Kaslin
Democratic spin doctors have set out how their side is going to hold onto a majority in the House. They'll capture four at-risk Republican seats, hold half of the next 30 or so Democratic at-risk seats, and avoid significant losses on target seats lower on the list.
That's one plausible scenario. The shift of opinion away from Democrats so evident in the polls could turn out to be illusory. The widely held assumption that Republicans will turn out in greater numbers than Democrats could prove wrong.
Democratic candidates do indeed have a money advantage in many close races, and their campaign committee has more cash than its Republican counterpart.
All that said, this Democratic spin sounds a lot like the Republican spin back in the 2006 cycle. If the numbers don't change too much from 2004, Republicans said then, we can hold on. If the numbers don't change too much from 2008, Democrats think now, they can hold on.
But the Republicans, as George W. Bush said, took "a thumping" in 2006. And most signs suggest Democrats will take a thumping this year, too.
To see why, take a look at the generic ballot question: Which party's candidate will you vote for in elections to the House? The current /realclearpolitics.com average shows Republicans ahead by 45 percent to 41 percent. Ten of this month's 15 opinion polls asking the question had Republicans ahead; Democrats led in four (twice by 1 percent), and one poll showed a tie.
Keep in mind that the generic ballot question historically has tended to under-predict Republican performance in off-year elections. Gallup has been asking the question since 1950 and has shown Republicans leading only in two cycles, 1994 and 2002, and then by less than the 7 and 5 points by which they won the popular vote for the House in those years.
So the Republicans' current lead in the generic ballot question suggests they may be on the brink of doing better than in any election since 1946, when they won a 245-188 margin in the House -- larger than any they've held ever since.
Another metric is daunting for Democrats. Polls in House races almost always show incumbents ahead of challengers, because incumbent members of Congress are usually much better known than their opponents. An incumbent running below 50 percent is considered potentially in trouble; an incumbent running behind a challenger is considered in deep doo-doo.
In 1994, I wrote an article in U.S. News & World Report arguing that there was a serious chance that Republicans could capture the 40 seats that they needed then, as now, for a majority in the House. It was the first mainstream media piece suggesting that, and it appeared on the newsstands on July 11.
I cited as evidence five polls showing incumbent Democratic congressmen trailing Republican challengers. None of those Democrats had scandal problems; all five lost in November.
Today, a lot more Democratic incumbents seem to be trailing Republican challengers in polls. Jim Geraghty of National Review Online has compiled a list of 13 Democratic incumbents trailing in polls released over the last seven weeks.
They're from all over the country: one each from Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota; two from Virginia; three from Pennsylvania. Most if not all of these incumbents are personally attractive, hardworking and ethically unsullied.
Some of these poll numbers are mind-boggling. Tom Perriello, a 727-vote winner in Virginia 5 in 2008, has been running two weeks of humorous ads showing what a hard worker he is. A poll shows him trailing Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt 58 percent to 35 percent.
In industrial Ohio 13, which Barack Obama carried 57 to 42, a poll shows incumbent Betty Sutton trailing free-spending Republican Tom Ganley 44 percent to 31 percent.
As Geraghty notes, we haven't seen polls released by many other Democrats on Republican target lists. Most are conducting polls; many have reason to release favorable results if they're available. This looks like a case where the absence of evidence is evidence of absence.
Two years ago, Barack Obama was elected president with a historic 53 percent of the vote -- more than any other Democrat in history except Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.
These metrics -- the generic ballot results and polls in individual districts -- suggest that House Democrats are headed toward historic losses. Quite a swing in 18 months.
Does anyone ever notice that the horse most hyped by the press never wins the race? I am truly sick of the daily media calls on who is ahead and who is not.....rather than tell the people who is stealing the most, Dodd, Frank, Rangle......and who is not. If Erick Holder refuses to put criminals like the Black Panthers away and the police don’t arrest SIEU for ruffing up citizens they disagree with....we don’t stand a chance of getting honest people elected...I’ve got a better idea, throw the entire lot of politicians out and don’t replace them.....leaving the few with integrity in place to do the work they were sent to Washington for.
Wait until 8/28 when 1,000,000+ show up at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That will take the rest of the air out of the Dem tires and cause all out panic.
“Wait until 8/28 when 1,000,000+ show up at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.”
That is my birthday. Are they throwing me a party?
Too bad that I can not get back to the USSA for it.
From Your Lips to Gods Ears,See You there On 8-28!!!
Its now or never folks,If you are as Frustrated and as Outraged and Just Plain as Pissed off as I am,as Patton Said, When you put your hand in a Pile of goo that used to be your best friends face,you will know what to do. If they have a “D” in front of their name make it stand For DEFEATED IN NOVEMBER BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANTED THEIR COUNTRY BACK!!!!!!!!
I,my wife, and kids of 13,14,16 will be in DC on 8-28. It is my hope this is my kids Woodstock moment minus the drugs. They are the future and this event will make history.
The white vote will become as monolithic as the black vote.
The river of Democrat voters coming across our southern border is going to turn into a flood. Their citizenship status can’t be checked as polling places.
I don’t think the Democrats have to worry this time around.
I found a package to fly in and a room to Baltimore for 338 bucks. I am trying to find out if I can get there from the hotel.
They and eight jack-booted members of the New Black Panther Party with batons at the ready.
For decades Demonrats have blocked any move to require proof of citizenship before registering to vote. They have one more than one election with illegal alien votes. The defeat of B-1 Bob Dornan in CA’s conservative Orange County is perhaps the most prominent example. November will be a fall of desperation for the ‘rats so vigilance must be the conservative watchword. But how to prevent illegal (alien) voters when citizenship can’t be challenged?
Yesterday I went to the bank, the same branch I've been going to for the last five years. The teller was someone I never saw before. Of course I had to provide photo ID.
Yesterday I went to the bank, the same branch I've been going to for the last five years. The teller was someone I never saw before. Of course I had to provide photo ID.
And how many union thug plants to call out racist comments?
It’s my wife’s birthday also...... And we are going!
Have made the first two “Tea Parties” in DC but must be 4.982.45 miles (thank you Google Earth) away for this one. I WILL be there in sprit!
I think Obama's ONLY chance for re-election in 2012 is to lose the House and/or Senate in 2010. If he loses one or both, his agenda will be stalled and the economy will dramatically improve over the next two years. He'll will in 2012 based on his "saving the economy!"
Won’t zero have to prove eligibility next time?
It was supposed to be a surprise........
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