The latest Gallup generic ballot test shows the Republicans leading the Democrats by the largest spread in the history of the generic ballot. Republicans lead by seven points -- 50 percent to 43 percent. This also appears to be the first time Republicans have ever hit 50 percent in the history of the Gallup generic ballot. If you take into consideration that Republicans' leads expand (or deficits shrink) by four or five points once pollsters apply a likely voter screen, then the Gallup result is consistent with the latest Rasmussen poll, which shows a twelve-point Republican lead. In Rasmussen's balloting, Republicans lead 48 percent to 36 percent. To put things into perspective, Democrats won 257 seats in 2008, and won the national vote by eleven points. Republicans lead by 6.4 points in the RCP Average, but four of those five polls are registered voter polls.
This is probably not a coincidence, but at the same time President Obama's average weekly approval ratings in the Gallup tracking poll dropped to to their lowest level of his Presidency, at 44 percent. In the wake of Obama's comments on the Ground Zero Mosque, the President's approval ratings have dropped even farther over the weekend (when they typically seem to improve), and today for the first time, 50 percent of Americans disapprove of the job he's doing (in Gallup). The latest RCP Average shows 44.4 percent approve and 50.8 percent disapprove.
Sean Trende is Senior Elections Analyst for RealClearPolitics. He can be reached at strende@realclearpolitics.com.
Poster comment: Not that I'm a big fan of the stupid party, but the Dems really are panicking and I'm enjoying it.
Piss on the Dems!
