Freaking Rasmussen has a poll out today showing Democrat Joe Donnelly only 2 points behind Republican Teabagger Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race:
The U.S. Senate race in Indiana remains a dead heat between Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly and Tea Party-backed State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Hoosier State finds Mourdock earning 42% of the vote, while Donnelly draws support from 40%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in the race, but another 15% are still undecided.
If Ras has Donnelly down by 2, then chances are that the "real" race is probably a couple of points in the Democrat's favor. This was the outcome we hoped would happen when Indiana's Republicans dumped the generally respected and not-completely-lunatic Dick Lugar in favor of wild-eyed Tea Partier Mourdock. There may be just enough "middle-of-the-road" Reps and Independents in Indiana, including those who were strong Lugar supporters, to tip this election to Donnelly.
If Indiana goes Democratic, the Senate stays in Dem hands, no question about it. This should have been a solid "keep" for the Republicans. The RNC must be pulling their hair out! At a minimum, they'll be forced to dump a ton of money into a race that should have been a foregone conclusion.
But now this raises a new question: if a Teabagger candidate in conservative Indiana can possibly shift the tide enough to elect a Democrat, what about Texas? Will **Ted Cruz's high-profile affiliation with the Tea Party have a similar effect on some sliver of Texans who may lean conservative, but be uncomfortable with batshit crazy? The most recent PPP poll gave Cruz a 10-point lead over Paul Sadler, 44% to 34%, but that was back in April.
Given that Cruz is already pushing the idea that his candidacy, and the entire election, are about pushing the country off the deep-end of Tea Party extremes on budget, taxes, etc., I'd like to think that there's room for movement even in the Lone Star State.