White House photo.
RedState’s Erick Erickson has a fairly convincing post on the similarities between the current media coverage of the Dems’ apparent “rebound” in the midterm polls and a similar Dem “surge” in 1994. As we know, that 1994 Dem recovery proved to be illusory, and the GOP won a convincing victory. Here’s the kicker from Erickson’s post:
On October 9, 1994, a month out from the November 8, 1994 election, the Washington Post’s Kevin Merida wrote, “One matchup pits William Frist (R), a wealthy heart-lung transplant surgeon from Nashville, against Sen. Jim Sasser (D), an 18-year veteran who chairs the Budget Committee and is making a strong bid to be the next Senate majority leader. Though some polls have showed the race tightening, several independent analysts doubt that Frist has enough to knock Sasser out. But he is trying.”
Bill Frist won the race 56% to 42%
At this point, it’s sort of hard to count House races, but polling guru Nate Silver’s contention that the GOP control is significantly more likely than not seems about right. Senate races are a bit easier. It’s hard to see how even the most optimistic Dem can project losing fewer than four Senate seats—North Dakota, Arkansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania appear to be done deals. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) has made big comebacks before, but right now, he looks cooked too. Michael Bennet in Colorado doesn’t look much better. If you assume the GOP will win only those six races, you’re still betting that they’ll lose two contests—Nevada and Illinois—that Silver gives them a better-than-even shot of winning. And we haven’t even talked about Washington or California or Connecticut or West Virginia yet.
It helps the media to play up the appearance of a Dem resurgence—a closer contest keeps people interested. Don’t believe the hype. Barack Obama’s party is still in serious trouble.
