CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION COMING UP - AT 10:48 P.M. ET:  With all the attention focused on the president's first 100 days, we tend to forget that the next great political contest will be the congressional election coming up in fall of next year.  And so today's Rasmussen poll of congressional preference is particularly stunning:

For just the second time in more than five years of daily or weekly tracking, Republicans now lead Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 41% would vote for their district’s Republican candidate while 38% would choose the Democrat. Thirty-one percent (31%) of conservative Democrats said they would vote for their district’s Republican candidate.

Overall, the GOP gained two points this week, while the Democrats lost a point in support. Still, it’s important to note that the GOP’s improved position comes primarily from falling Democratic support. Democrats are currently at their lowest level of support in the past year while Republicans are at the high water mark.

COMMENT:  That's good news for now.  However, the key to the future is to build Republican support by developing a program the public will support, not simply waiting for the Dems to falter.  They're already faltering.  The GOP must play offense, not defense.  The Democrats will not take losses in the congressional elections without a brutal fight. 

April 28, 2009