If asked, I would say I disapproved of the way W is doing his job. If he ran again, I'd vote for him over anyone else mentioned. How many of those polled are like me?

Maybe its just me. But it sure seems lately that the more the evidence says otherwise, the more the MSM rushes out almost in sheer panic to insist that the Democrats are taking over the House and might even capture the Senate. Perhaps its because they've walked so far out on the plank with that story line that they now feel like they've got to do anything possible to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or maybe for them the world is going to end if the Democrats don't win back the power that only they are entitled to. Whatever it is, thanks AKM and DJ for keeping all this in perspective. It would be real easy to lose touch with reality from all that Kool Aid they've been serving up.

Ken

I'm with you FK, Exactly!!! I Don't approve of Bush's Job performance either, but that doesn't mean I'd vote Democrat. And I'd vote for Bush all over again, too.

Ken, That's the conclusion that I arrived at almost a month ago. I noticed today that Salon.com talked about a poll showing Bob Casey 18 points ahead as of Sept. 1. Talk about nonsense. Isaw today an article by Richard Baehr of the American Thinker that supposedly listed all the vulnerable seats, Democrat or Republican. They didn't even list Murtha's seat as contested.

To be fair, he just worked off the consensus projections of Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook & Stuart Rothenberg, meaning that these gents are clueless this year. They each have Republicans losing the House. That's nonsense.

Thanks for that additional info Gary. Sounds like its pretty contagious. But they are certainly ramping up their hype. Every day this weekend and even this morning, there were prominent stories on the radio from CBS and their Westwood One talk shows with the same general theme. Democrats are poised to take over the house and might even get the Senate. They couldn't get more sympathetic reporting if they were providing the material themselves. Oops! I forgot. They were. Now it makes sense.

Ken

I agree with Ken and Gary. Remember, most House races don't get polled often, if at all. One reason is that it is far more difficult to draw a sufficient legitimate sample from the smaller population in a congressional district. It means many more pollster man-hours, driving up the costs, so few public media consortiums are willing to invest the extra money. When candidates or parties decided to pony up, they generally want the results kept private - both to avoid potential embarassment and to keep the opposition in the dark.

This is also why you see fewer polls of states with smaller populations, btw.

A good case in point in Indiana's 2nd CD, where Republican Chris Chocola is running for reelection. With little data to go on, the analysts have rated the race a toss-up or slightly favored Chocola to win.

In the last week or so, though, both Stu Rothenburg and Charles Cook have moved that race to "leans Democratic pick-up" on no new news or polls. The only reason I can find in the public domain is that the RCCC is sending nearly $1 million to Indiana to defend incumbents in the 8th and 9th CDs, but nothing for Chocola. Are analysts interpreting this as the party writing off the 2nd?

The real reason Chris isn't getting help from the party is that he doesn't need it. He's a proven fundraiser, and has personal wealth he can put in if necessary. His opponent doesn't even pay his own property taxes on time.

As Gary mentioned, Murtha could be in serious trouble, too. While he has always coasted to reelection or been unopposed, a good deal of his support has been based on his war record and reputation as being "strong on defense." In the last two years, however, he has become the TV spokesmodel for the certifiably nutcase wing of the Democratic Party, been photographed with and feted by radically anti-American groups like Code Pink, and egregiously defamed and condemned American servicemen without benefit of investigation, much less courts-martial.

All the hype by the fMSM is a combination of wishful thinking and attempting the self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't think it is working.