As reported here, [t]he Democrats' yearlong lead among likely voters has evaporated, strengthening Republican chances of holding majority control in the House, according to the Gallup Poll.
Gallup's latest survey of voters who say they will go to the polls Nov. 7 showed the contest is a "dead heat" between those who say they will vote Republican (48 percent) and those who say they intend to support Democrats (48 percent). The poll of 1,003 adults was conducted Sept. 15-17.
But, Democratic strategists dismiss Gallup's survey and other polls showing a similar tightening of the election, but some acknowledge that Republicans' numbers were helped by President Bush's higher job-approval scores -- now at 44 percent -- and his recent speeches highlighting the war on terrorism and its connection to the ongoing conflict in Iraq.
"Nobody believes those numbers. I don't think anybody in the country believes the generic party preference is even right now," said Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network. Oh, really?
Still, Mr. Rosenberg said, Mr. Bush's efforts to elevate the terrorism issue in the campaign "has been marginally effective." Seems like it was very effective, Mr. Rosenberg, since the margin has been cut to, what, zero?
The biggest reason, based on results from Gallup, for these poll numbers (which "nobody believes") is that people trust Republicans to keep them safer from terrorists than the Democrats. Shoot, even registered Democrat voters think that!
Gallup's findings on these and related issues mirror those from several other polls that show a similar movement in the Republican Party's favor. One poll conducted last week for the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg found "the GOP may be gaining momentum before November's battle for control of Congress."
But, "nobody believes" those polls. Yeah. Right.
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