The most amazing thing about this? When Democrats tell people that voters hate the GOP as much as they hate them, they’re not blowing smoke. That’s basically true. In fact, in many polls, the Republican Party’s favorables are still lower than the Democrats’. And even so: Biggest generic ballot lead … in history. That’s how popular Hopenchange is.
The flip side of that calculus, of course: Imagine what the lead would be like if people liked the GOP.
Follow the link up top for the numbers stretching all the way back to 1946. Republicans hit 49 percent a few times during the blessed year of 1994 but not until now have they reached the 50-yard line. As for Rasmussen:
Republican candidates have jumped out to a record-setting 12-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, August 15, 2010. This is the biggest lead the GOP has held in over a decade of Rasmussen Reports surveying.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely Voters would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Support for Republicans is up two points from the previous week, while support for Democrats dropped three points.Republicans have led on the Generic Congressional Ballot since June of last year, and their lead hasn’t fallen below five points since the beginning of December…
Support for repeal of the health care reform bill is at 60%, its highest level in over a month, while the number of voters who believe repeal will be good for the economy has reached a new high.
The temptation will be to chalk this up to The One’s comments about the Ground Zero mosque but I’m skeptical that that’s what’s driving it. Both polls are based on averages over the course of a week and he didn’t chime in on the mosque until late Friday night. Unless the bottom dropped out in the polling over the weekend, last week’s numbers should be relatively unaffected. Although, if so, that prompts the question: What will next week’s numbers be like?
Meanwhile, because he’s clearly a political genius, Obama’s still whining about Republican opposition to an agenda that’s so unpopular that it’s carrying them to unprecedented leads in major polls. Exit question: Democrats can’t figure out a plan for the midterms. Any ideas?
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