Good news where it matters most

Hoping to lift some of the gloom that that threatens to drive away their donors and keep their rank-and-file at home, the Democrats have released internal polling in selected races that they claim shows the Party’s electoral prospects are not nearly as bad as many believe. But the most probative recent poll result I’ve seen comes from the non-partisan Pew organization. It shows that independent voters currently favor Republicans over Democrats to nearly the same extent that they favored Obama over McCain in 2008 and Democrats over Republicans in 2006. Those margins produced significant victories by the Dems in both cycles.
It’s too early for Republicans to engage in high-fiving. Instead, whether valid or not, the Democrats’ polling dump should motivate Republicans to work even harder. But the apparent turnaround of independent voters, coupled with the enthusiasm gap among partisans, certainly augurs well for the GOP.