Status Quo Election?

From Bruce Bartlett:

"It appears that congressional Republicans have dodged a bullet. If the election had been held six weeks ago, almost certainly they would have lost control of the House of Representatives and probably the Senate, as well. Since then, they have narrowed the gap with the Democrats to where it is starting to look like a status quo election in November, with no significant changes.

According to the Real Clear Politics Website, during the first week in August, Republicans were down by double digits in almost every generic congressional poll. In such a poll, voters are not asked about specific races, but only about whether they plan to vote Republican or Democratic. Both Fox News and The Associated Press had the Republicans down by 18 percent.

Fast forward to the latest polls, and there has been a steady improvement. The average spread is down to 9.5 percent, with Fox News showing only a 3 percent advantage for the Democrats. With gasoline prices dropping sharply, President Bush effectively playing the terrorism card yet again and continuing disarray on the Democratic side, it no longer looks as if this will be a defining election, as 1994 was.

I think this is too bad. The Republicans badly need a wake-up call. They have completely broken faith with the voters who put them in power 12 years ago and become indistinguishable from the Democrats they replaced on many issues. Does anyone believe we would have more pork barrel spending if the Democrats were still in control? I seriously doubt it."

For more from Bruce, go to http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/09/status_quo_election.html