The politics of fear may have played out, according to a new Pew poll.
Coming from WaPo (not online yet)
Story now online.
HERE
CLINTONVILLE, Ohio--Married women with children, the ``security moms'' whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, this year are taking flight from GOP politicians in ways that look likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and voter interviews.
The numbers HAVE to have Republicans worried.
The numbers from Pew study:
GOP will overextend U.S. military?
very concerned: 46
somewhat concerned: 23
not too concerned: 18
not at all concerned: 11
DEM will weaken terror efforts?
very concerned: 35
somewhat concerned: 22
not too concerned: 17
not at all concerned: 23
The full study is
HERE
Datelined from an Ohio town, this story shows the impact of the war on Ohio politics.
Let's face it, there seems to be a wide swath of Congressional districts coming into play from the mid-Atlantic across Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Not to mention a potential meltdown of GOP seats in the Northeast.
This is not a done deal. But the trend looks good.
It appears in Ohio, particularly, the GOP is facing the cliche Perfect Storm -- widespread corruption charges, a heavy toll of dead and wounded coming back from Iraq, and a withering industrial base.
Incumbents, beware.
More from WaPo:
The study, which examined the views of married women with children from April through this week, found married mothers support Democrats for Congress by a 12-point margin, 50 percent to 38 percent. That is nearly a mirror-image reversal from a similar period in 2002, when this group backed Republicans 53 percent to 38 percent. In 2004, exit polls showed Bush won a second term in part because 56 percent of married women with children supported him.
For whatever reason, the terrorism and security issue is essentially neutralized.
Significantly, Pew and other polls in recent days have found little or no advantage for Republicans in the aftermath of last week's foiled terror plot in London, even as Vice President Dick Cheney and GOP leaders have warned that the event showed the risk of voting for a Democratic Party they claimed is dominated by security doves.
Nice try. That dog don't hunt anymore.
In its latest poll of the general public, conducted after the foiled plot, Pew found a majority voiced concerns Democrats were too weak on terrorism, the precise charge Republicans have made over the past 10 days. Yet an even larger majority said they fear Republicans would involve the United States in too many military operations. The end result is the public is essentially split over which party can best defeat terrorists. Washington Post-ABC News surveys found the Republicans held a 30-point average on the issue of terrorism in 2002-2004. But in the past two years, the GOP advantage has evaporated.