Signs of a Democratic Rebound?By Sean Trende - September 13, 2010
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It's always dangerous to see a handful of polls and start talking about a trend. At the same time, most trends start with a few polls that look like they might be outliers, but move in the same direction at the same time. And so it's worth noting that over the weekend, there were a few polls moving in the same direction showing good news for Democrats. On the other hand, there were still plenty of polls showing bad news for Democrats, so we must be cautious interpreting these data; we really just see "green shoots" for Democrats amid what had previously been uniformly bad polling news.
The Good News For Democrats
Connecticut Senate - Many race watchers had pegged the Connecticut Senate race as an "upset special." After all, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had committed what looked a self-inflicted wound when it was discovered that he had exaggerated his military service. Republican Linda McMahon was far from an ideal candidate, but she was the consummate political outsider in an outsider year, and she had infinite funds to spend on New York media. Rasmussen Reports showed a steadily tightening race, and Democrats became increasingly concerned.
So it had to come as a bit of a relief to Democrats when Rasmussen Reports showed Blumenthal back over 50 percent, and expanding his lead from 7 points to 9 points. He leads 53 percent to 44 percent. This could be statistical noise, but it also could be a signal that Blumenthal has bottomed out, and that McMahon has peaked after solidifying the 44 percent of voters that cast ballots for George W. Bush in 2004. Blumenthal leads by 9.5 points in the RCP Average.
South Dakota At Large -Herseth Sandlin was one of those members that observers were increasingly writing off for dead. She was consistently in the low forties in polling and her opponent, Kristi Noem, was above 50 percent. That's a kiss of death for an incumbent. But Rasmussen Report's latest polling shows those numbers reversing now, with Herseth Sandlin at 47 percent and Noem at 45 percent. This comes as Herseth Sandlin starts her ad buy, and as Noem has come under fire for her numerous speeding tickets (the last occupant of the seat resigned after a manslaughter conviction for killing someone while driving). There is a special importance here, because this has been a major Democratic talking point: that once Republicans' records come under scrutiny, Democrats will rebound.
Nevada 3rd District - ...<snip>
Much More:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/13/signs_of_a_democratic_rebound_107126.html:shrug: