Still More On the November Elections

John Fund, writing in the Opinion Journal, has some important points about the November elections. His analysis comes down to it really being the Republicans election to blow more than the Democrats chance to win. He points out that spending and immigration are the two biggest issues for voters right now. He also points out something I have said before: the Democrats in congress are not really better thought of in the opinion polls. All the politicians have a problem this year.

The other problem Democrats still face is that the public thinks almost as badly about them as they do the Republicans. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll finds just 33% have a positive view of the Democratic Party, with 39% having a negative view. Republican numbers are worse, but just barely: 35% positive, 43% negative. Just after the 2004 elections, Democrats had a 44% favorable rating while Republicans had a 46% rating, numbers that came close to matching that year's election results. Even Howard Dean, Mr. Mehlman's Democratic counterpart, admits that his party has to "earn the public approval of our right to govern again."

Those numbers are virtually a tie and may actually be worse for the Democrats given that most of the polls are heavily over-sampling Democrats. I think this is shaping up to be a rough year all the way around.