A new Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll reports good news for Republicans:
"Republicans have solidified support among voters who had drifted from the party in recent elections, putting the GOP in position for a strong comeback in November's mid-term campaign …. …
Republicans have reassembled their coalition by reconnecting with independents, seniors, blue-collar voters, suburban women and small town and rural voters—all of whom had moved away from the party in the 2006 elections, in which Republicans lost control of the House. Those voter groups now favor GOP control of Congress. …
A big shift is evident among independents, who at this point in the 2006 campaign favored Democratic control of Congress rather than Republican control, 40% to 24%. In this poll, independents favored the GOP, 38% to 30%."*
While this is good news for Republican candidates in November, Republicans need to realize that this is not a vote for them. This is a vote against the Democrats. People are not switching to the Republicans because of what we have done – or even what we have proposed. They are turning against the Democrats because of what they have done – and the Republicans are the best way to vote against the Democrats.
In other words, Republicans, especially the Republicans in Congress, need to understand that if the Republicans do well in November, the victories are not a mandate. They are a chance. We are getting another chance, and we need to not blow it.
We don’t need another K Street project or earmarks from here to Nowhere (as in the Bridge to Nowhere). Or deficit spending that funds what we want as opposed to what the Democrats want.
If Republicans do well in November, we are going to have to earn that victory by doing good in the two years that follow. Or November of 2012 will see us out once again.
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* "Voters Shifting to GOP, Poll Finds," The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2010.
Update (5/14/10 11:25 pm): Corrected a typo in the title and deleted a couple of "categories".
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