Via Moe Lane. The usual caveats apply — it’s early, it’s Rasmussen, it’s at odds with the GOP’s general popularity these days — but even an eeyore as stalwart as me is starved for good news. I’ll take it:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 41% said they would vote for their district’s Republican candidate while 39% would choose the Democrat.

Investors now favor Republicans by a 46% to 36% margin, while non-investors would vote Democratic by a 45% to 33% margin…

Over the past year, Democratic support has ranged from a low of 39% to a high of 50%. In that same time period, Republicans have been preferred by 34% to 41% of voters nationwide.

A glance at the sidebar at the link shows that Republicans got as close as a point last month and two points shortly after the election (when the generic ballot always tightens) but have never led dating back to 2007. Rasmussen’s not the only pollster suddenly showing the generic ballot a statistical dead heat, either. Exit question: To what do we owe our sudden good fortune? Hmmm: