MIRACLE IN TEXAS? – AT 2:22 P.M. ET:  It's only one poll, but it certainly is good for the morale.  From CNBC:   

Sen. Ted Cruz finally got some good news in the Texas Senate race.

The incumbent Republican holds a 9 percentage point edge over Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O'Rourke in his bid to hold on to his red-state seat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Cruz gets support from 54 percent of likely voters, versus 45 percent for the upstart representative, the survey shows.

Republicans had sounded alarm after a series of polls showed a tighter race between Cruz and O'Rourke, a well-funded challenger who aims to become the first Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate in a quarter of a century. The latest poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

An O'Rourke victory would be a major coup for the Democratic Party as it tries to navigate a brutal map this year to flip two GOP-held seats and take a majority in the upper chamber.

A Quinnipiac poll of Texas voters last month showed a 6 percentage point lead for Cruz.

COMMENT:  We wait for other Texas polls, but maybe the voters are waking up to the reality that Beto is a fraud and an amateur, whereas Ted Cruz is one of the great intellects of the Senate.

September 18,  2018