In this piece,
kos talks about Obama's poll momentum as a tsunami. While currently it is the effect of momentum, it does recall another certain recent wave.
That, of course, is the 2006 election. The Democrats momentum kept rolling, and it resulted in flipping both the house and senate. But that hasn't gone as well as we'd hoped, and there have been some maddening votes. Those, plus the GOP faux-filibusters, have helped drag the Congress' numbers down even below W's. It's caused all of us to worry that we won't consolidate the gains and grow the majority to effect some real solutions to all the damage done the last 7 years.
Now we have the Obama surge, and it makes me wonder if we are seeing the kind of movement that we saw in 2006--everything breaking the democrats' way. Better than expected turnout, independent voters deserting the GOP in droves, etc.
It's still the eve of the NH primary, and Clinton could still pull close enough to claim a moral victory and put the election back in play. Or Edwards could pull enough votes from both to shrink the margins of victory. But if the momentum holds, and Obama pulls a victory in the high single- or low double-digit range, then he, too, has a wave.
That's a message--a wave of support--a wave demanding change--that could drive a bigger victory in November. It's something of a mandate, and I would not be surprised to see it in play.