At heart, I think most Americans WANT to be Republicans, for the optimism, fiscal responsibility and fair play for which the GOP typically stands. The past several years have been tough for the GOP (unpopular Iraq war, out-of-control spending, scandals); the Dems should be mopping up. This poll shows the resilience of the party after only one year of Democratic control of Congress.
I’ve always thought most elections are the Republicans to lose. . .
The improvement for the GOP is due to improving condiditons in Iraq. Notice that when the GOP was polling poorly, McCain also had bad polls. Now the McCain surge is accommpanied by an improvement of the GOP brand name.
But the Dems are going to give me everything for free! Why should I vote Republican? What are they going to give me?
You need to add free trade agreements without calculating the domestic costs and country club/corporate/chamber of commerce GOP support for illegal immigration hurt the GOP.