Take a good look at the title of this blog. Because you certainly don\’t see it very often.
But this year? Incredibly, it might be accurate.
In the past week, Republicans have started picking up considerable steam one state after another. For example, look at these senate races:
-In Kansas, incumbent Pat Roberts, after trailing his supposedly “independent” opponent (in reality, his Democrat opponent) by up to 10%, is now ahead in the latest two polls. CNN has him up by 1% and Fox by 5%, with both showing a strong, quick upward jump for Roberts: Fox, in particular, had Orman up by 6% less than a month ago; an 11% turnaround;
-i Alaska, Republican Dan Sullivan has pulled well ahead of incumbent Democrat Mark Begich by a consistent 5% – 6% margin;
-in Louisiana, Republican Bill Cassidy has jumped to about a 5% lead over incumbent Democrat Incumbent Mary Landrieu
-in Colorado, Republican Cory Gardner, in the latest poll, has surged to a 6% lead over Democrat incumbent Mark Udall;
-with other examples as well.
And now, if you believe the polls, even (gasp!) Massachusetts is getting into the act.
-Democrat Martha Coakley, who lost her run for the Senate against Republican Scott Brown years ago, is now running for Governor. And, as recently as mid-August, she was coasting along, ahead of Republican Charlie Baker, by 7% to 15%. Given how deep-blue Massachusetts is, that was a no-brainer…..until, in keeping with Republican gains elsewhere, it wasn\’t. Since mid-September, polls have shown this to be a toss-up….and, in the just-released Emerson College poll, Baker has actually jumped to a 5% lead. What used to be a laugher is not funny to Democrats any more.
But that\’s not all.
-In the 9th congressional district, new polling shows Republican John Chapman 5% ahead of 2-term incumbent Democrat William Keating.
-And in the 6th – an open seat which has been held for the past 9 terms by Democrat John Tierney, Emerson\’s polling shows Republican Richard Tisei has suddenly jumped 2% ahead of Democrat Seth Moulton.
Is it just that Emerson College has run an outlier poll? Is it nothing more than a short-term blip for Republicans, with Democrats bringing back the solidly-Democrat status quo between now and election day? Quite possibly so.
But given the fact that this movement coincides with the way things are going in so many other parts of the country, the possibility of Republican wins in one, two or all three races cannot be discounted.
They may not be the most important races we will have on election day. But they certainly will be among the most interesting.
Let\’s watch them together.
