Cinco de Perdición

May 5^th was a dark day for the Democratic Party. A series of polls were released that uniformly showed the Democrats losing both the national voting trend to the Republicans, but models were predicting the Senate would be lost (6 seats or more going Republican), with few gains in the House (need 17 seats).

Probably the most disheartening to Democrats was the Pew poll, one they’ve come to feel was friendlier, which showed Democrats 4 points behind in the generic ballot test. Six months ago, they were ahead by 6 points. Pew is to the Democrats what the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll is to Republicans – more credible. It’s not justified. Both polls follow careful methodologies, analyses and reporting practices, but everyone has a trusted favorite.

Political headlines on May 5 Polls:

• Midterm election indicators daunting for Democrats, Pew, 5-5-14
• Poll: For the midterm, a tilt to the GOP, USA Today, 5-5-14
• Poll: Generic ballot favors GOP in midterm, Real Clear Politics, 5-5-14
• President Obama isn’t the Democratic George W. Bush – Yet, Washington Post, 5-5-14
• Republicans have 82 percent chance of winning back Senate, Washington Post, 5-5-14