If the midterm elections were to be held today, polls indicate that Democrats would still have an advantage in congressional races cross-country…but those polls are narrowing rapidly. And for Democrats who thought that all of the manufactured bad news about the Trump administration would pull their voters out in droves, this November is beginning to look like it might be a repeat of 2016. We can only hope that instead of a big blue wave, we get even more satisfying videos of crestfallen liberals crying as they watch the election returns roll in.
According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the “gap between support for Democratic vs. Republican House candidates dropped by more than half since the beginning of the year.” The poll also notes that Trump’s approval rating is on the rise and markers measuring partisan enthusiasm on the left are not where they need to be if Democrats really want to take the House back in November.
Yeah, if you’re Nancy Pelosi, you’re trying to smash the cork back in the champagne bottle right about now.
“With the Republicans’ House majority at risk, 47 percent of registered voters say they prefer the Democratic candidate in their district, while 43 percent favor the Republican,” reports the Washington Post. “That four-point margin compares with a 12-point advantage Democrats held in January. Among a broader group of voting-age adults, the Democrats’ margin is 10 points, 50 percent to 40 percent.”
To be sure, these are not numbers for Republicans to get giddy about. Like we said, if the election were held today, the GOP’s majority would be in serious jeopardy. But for Democrats, who were hoping for a blue thrashing in November, the tide is turning against that wave of enthusiasm they were riding for much of last year. They won a bunch of special elections using that enthusiasm. Now, however, it’s beginning to fade. The effects of the tax cuts are coming in. Voters are looking beyond all the media hype about Russia and seeing an economy in full bloom. They’re watching a commander-in-chief take decisive action about a sick dictator in the Middle East. They’re noticing that, hmm, maybe that Robert Mueller investigation is really just a bunch of smoke with no fire.
As these realizations slowly dawn on more and more Americans, the Democrats are going to watch their poll numbers sink even lower.
Well, that’s our optimistic take on it for now, anyway. November’s still a long ways away.
