TWO VERY GOOD SIGNS

One from the Pew Research Center:

Poll shows Democrats leading competitive House races
By STEVEN THOMMA
McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thu, Oct. 26, 2006

WASHINGTON — In a sign that a major wave could be building against Republicans in the House of Representatives, Democrats have opened a double-digit lead in competitive House campaigns around the country in a new poll and are within 2 percentage points in districts once considered safely Republican.

Democrats lead Republicans by 50 percent to 39 percent in 40 closely contested districts that are most likely to determine control of the House on Election Day, Nov. 7, according to the poll, which was released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

Potentially more troubling for Republicans: They lead by only 44 percent to 42 percent in all other Republican-held districts, which went heavily for President Bush in 2004.


One from the WaPo:

"They honestly need a baseball bat against the head," said Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who helped Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) take over Congress in the 1990s. "Because if they don't change the lexicon immediately, as bad as this election is going to be, they're going to lose the presidency in 2008. I've given up on 2006. They've already made so many mistakes, there's no way they can fix it in two weeks. But I'm worried now they're going to lose all the marbles."