Bear with me while I indulge what could turn out to be a fantasy - but maybe not.
It goes something like this:
The first people in the midterm election pool are always the angriest. This year, it was the Tea Party - whether their anger is justifiable or not - who flocked frenzied to the idea that the Republican party would be the salvation of a country they see as, well, not in their Crazy Land.
The Republicans, of course, partially fanned the flames of paranoia, hatred and bigotry that drives the Tea Party Trainwreck because tactically, it's easy to generate a wave in a midterm with typical turnout: You just need to get your 15% - 18% of the registered voters to the polls. Especially if that group is enthusiastic very early on.
But, as I dairied earlier, this is where I think the Republicans blew it. By buying into a crop of candidates who are extreme, off the wall, and - in many cases - completely unqualified for higher office (and therefore basically unacceptible), they forgot about the world of social media, online and the 24 hour news cycle.
Unlike the old days, there's video and text flying around from person to person. So, when Sharon Angle race baits against Latinos in Nevada and then - worse yet - tries to suppress the Latino vote there. Latinos everywhere in the US know it. Christine O'Donnell becomes the Sarah Palin of the midterms - and that is not a good thing... if you are a Republican.
And it helps when good folks like Keith Obermann and Rachael Maddow can pick up theme of what monsters this years' GOP candidates are and run with it day after day.
And this, I believe, has generated another wave - going in the opposite direction - if you will. It is motivating Democrats and like minded voters who are angry or frightened by this lunacy. That's what you are seeing in early voting. Honestly, if you were feeling disaffected as a Democrat, odds are repeated contacts by the GOTV effort wouldn't change your mind. But the nature of these Republican candidates, this year certainly might.
So now - I believe - it's a battle of waves. And, I think, we are in for a night of some very interesting surprises.
GOTV everybody!!!