Hot new election read from Reuters: Tea party candidates are scaring Republicans into voting Democratic

Amid the maelstrom of stories about Democrats getting crushed by independents, deep blue citadels on the verge of turning red, and the likelihood of Harry Reid being unseated climbing above 75 percent, thank goodness there’s one news agency with the clear-eyed vision to report on important phenomena like “Republicans for Cuomo.”

Hang in there, Reuters. It’ll all be over soon.

Republican candidate Carl Paladino — backed by the conservative Tea Party movement — raised such political hackles he spawned a “Republicans for Cuomo” movement supporting Democrat Andrew Cuomo.

Similar groups can be found in heated races elsewhere nationwide, often those featuring Tea Party-endorsed candidates, attacked by Democrats and some moderate Republicans as extreme…

In Nevada, incumbent Democrat Sen. Harry Reid, who faces Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, counts among his Republican supporters an array of influential gaming and casino executives.

“Mainstream Republicans are refusing to support the latest crop of insurgent candidates in the Republican Party because of their extremist beliefs,” said Deirdre Murphy, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington.

Somewhere Charlie Crist is reading that sentence, wistfully wishing it were true. But give Reuters credit for recognizing that voters switching parties in revulsion at the leadership is a significant and newsworthy trend. I wonder if we can find a more salient example, though, than “Casinos Against Angle” or whatever. How about … this?

In the case of women — a traditionally Democratic-leaning group that the White House has been courting actively in recent weeks — the shift toward the Republicans was marked in the latest poll, especially when compared with their stated preferences in the last Times/CBS poll, in mid-September.

In the earlier poll, women favored Democrats over Republicans by seven percentage points. In the latest poll, women said they were likely to support a Republican over a Democrat by four percentage points, suggesting Republican gains among women who were undecided as of last month.

Eleven points. In a month. Among one of the left’s core constituencies. No wonder Democrats are starting to mumble about abortion and other social issues that are a cynical deplorable wedge whenever Republicans mention them during a campaign but have now magically transformed into responsible politicking ahead of a very important election. I’m half surprised that The One hasn’t suddenly “seen the light” and come out in favor of gay marriage. But then, he is, after all, still “evolving.”

• “Experienced Democrats” whispering that it might be time for Holder to go
• New MSNBC theory: Maybe the IRS commissioner appointed by Bush targeted tea partiers because they’re a threat to the GOP
• Carney: No, seriously, Obama’s lawyer didn’t tell him that the IRS was targeting tea partiers when she found out; Update: Obama’s chief of staff was told?

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