I don't know what the rules are on diarying about news items that have yet to be printed, but it's up online so I guess that makes it fair game. (yeah, I know, I'm still a little wet behind the ears. Gimme a break, check my UID if you need to know)
Anyway, the Washington Post is running a very interesting poll piece tomorrow. It's a bit of a mixed bag, really, but has some good news for us.
More below the fold:
Most Americans describe themselves as being in an anti-incumbent mood heading into this fall's midterm congressional elections, and the percentage of people who approve of their own representative's performance is at the lowest level since 1994.
I smell a tidal wave a-comin'. Anybody have a surfboard at the ready?
55 percent now approve of their lawmaker, a seven-percentage-point drop over three months and the lowest such finding since 1994.
That 55% number, obviously, is approaching the danger level for your general incumbent. That said, there's no indication that they mentioned any specific races:
The generic ballot question, asking voters in general which party they would support in November, remained unchanged from the spring, with 52 percent favoring Democrats and 39 percent supporting Republicans. The lead narrows to 10 points among those who say they are closely following their local races.
I just looked at the poll results, and they did not ask a question about any specific races, probably because the poll was done nationally. Still, it seems like it would have been a good idea to at least attempt it for comparison... though I imagine we know what the result would be.
And now, for the bad news from this poll:
In a small boost for Bush, his approval rating inched up to 40 percent, two percentage points higher than in June and seven higher than in May.
Admittedly, not much of a bounce, but still not a great trend for us. Probably due to a fresh war, despite the fact that he's bungling the response to it just like everything else.
For all their disenchantment, most voters are not sure what the [Democratic] party stands for. Just 48 percent say Democrats offer a clear direction different from Republicans, while 47 percent say they do not.
This one worries me a bit more. I think the way to resolve this issue (and get more undecideds in our column) is to let each candidate be more active in defining their own message, you know, maybe call off the DCCC, DSCC, DNC, etc. because they are clearly failing to define the party adequately.
Of course, a favorable result tomorrow will help with that last point substantially.
Good night, everybody, and get some sleep for tomorrow. I see a lot of craziness ahead... and I'm not even in Connecticut.
Then again, I am in DC...