I lifted the graphic from Reuters, via Pacific Pundit. According to a poll that probably over-sampled Dems, the Republicans now hold a 6.2% lead over their arch-rivals in Congressional races.
Usual caveats. A a lot can happen between now and November. The GOP has blown slam dunks before. Your mileage may vary.
With the fine print out of the way, I filed the blue wave reports in the drawer with Nate Silver's election night predictions. And as Spygate unravels, Independents, some Democrats and possibly even one or two Never-Trumpers will sour on the Democrat Party. A growing number of voters are disgusted with the Obama/Clinton Crime Cartel and the Dems are not trying to win them over.
Not that the Dems have a rightful claim to the moral high ground but they always recognized its advantages and by fraud or foolishness they would play a mean game of King of The Hill. Usually, it was about the children. The women. The poor. Not that they cared about members of these groups but they always expressed their unending concern for them anyway. The Dems seemed to understand that their moral superiority was NOT self-evident to everyone and they pressed on tirelessly with their conspicuous compassion.
Today's Democrat sees no need to wrestle for moral superiority. Their virtue is axiomatic. It is so obvious and so unending, there is no need to sell its existence to a larger audience. With each skin of the onion, with each display of corruption,with each revelation of Obama spying, the Dems never see the need for damage control.
Yes, there are distractions like porn stars and Robert Mueller and the umbrage that comes from a brash man calling gangsters animals. Yes, these are attacks on Trump to establish the moral upper hand but it is all negative. More limbo than pole vault. Not even an effort to say, "We are so wonderful."
Clapper is a serial perjurer, so ask CNN to hire him as a blather boy. If Comey is a crooked cop, make sure he lands an ethical leadership gig and gets plenty of airtime for his silly ass book. If John Brennan is a Commy thug who abused his powers in a big, big way, who cares? These guys are overdue for the landfill and the Democrats put them on their coffee table. Don't mind the smell.
When Richard Nixon's White House was caught in acts of wrongdoing that were trivial by comparison to the crimes of the Obama Administration, the GOP did not circle the wagons for their miscreants. They recognized that Attorney General John Mitchell was a crook and they allowed him to be treated as such. On the Senate floor, Republican Howard Baker famously asked, "What did the president know and when did he know it?" When it had become obvious that the president had lied to the citizenry, Senator Barry Goldwater privately asked him to resign.
One could make the cynical case that the actions of Watergate-era GOP were motivated by political calculations and not displays of moral clarity. Point taken. To that one could counter that The Republicans had the good sense to distance themselves from bad actors. Take out the trash, move on and six years later Ronald Reagan would be on his way to the White House. Whatever the motive, the Republicans never conceded the moral high ground.
I used to think the Dems would always have an advantage because they were, on average, smarter than Republicnas. That changed. Not sure when it changed, but change it did. Unless and until the Dems distance themselves from thugs and thuggery, there will be no blue wave.
