In the most ominous sign yet for Democrats heading into the fall elections, a new Gallup poll gives Republicans a 10-point lead in a "generic ballot" — the biggest edge the GOP has enjoyed before a midterm vote since such polling began in the 1940s. With election day just two months away, is there any way for Democrats to escape disaster and hold on to the House? (Watch a Fox News discussion about the Republicans' lead)
No, Democrats face a certain "bloodbath": The question now isn't whether Democrats will lose, says Jamelle Bouie at The American Prospect, but how bad the "bloodbath" will be. "Barring a miracle," the House belongs to the GOP, and the Democrats should hope they can turn things around enough to cling to a razor-thin majority in the Senate. Either way, the GOP will have all power they'll need to start "driving President Obama's agenda to the right."
"The impending Democratic bloodbath"
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It's way too early for Dems to wave the white flag: The only thing this latest poll proves, says Kevin Drum at Mother Jones, is that "conservative hysteria" gets America's attention during the slow summer-news season. "Last year, it was death panels and frenzied town hall meetings. This year, it's the Ground Zero mosque and a Glenn Beck rally on the Mall." With August over, the "real campaigning" will begin and things should "tighten up a bit."
"What happens when summer is over?"
The Democrats' doom was sealed way before this poll: This new data only confirms what angry voters have been saying for months, says Michael Tanner at National Review. Though "desperate" Democrats have been clinging to the liberal fantasy that Tea Party candidates are "dragging Republicans to defeat," back "in the real world," the GOP's "new breed of anti-spending, pro-Constitution, limited-government candidates" are poised to take over.