Free Republic

For Democrats willing to see what's before their eyes, the nightmare came into sharper focus over the last week. Another 1994 might be in the offing. Back then, the beginning of the end came on a procedural vote. A Democratic majority that had held the House for four decades lost a routine party-line vote on a "rule," a basic measure allowing it to control the House floor. The August vote hit like a neutron bomb. Superficially, nothing changed: The Democrats still had a majority; they quickly re-established control and passed the underlying legislation, a liberal crime bill. Yet Republicans exulted...

Obama's numbers and Dems' generic congressional ballot both drop By Thomas Schaller There's a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll out. The numbers are grim for Democrats and Barack Obama, but more to the point, the country continues to express a general and very real disgust. Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg of NBC's First Read summarize the major findings this way: In the poll, Obama's approval has dropped below 50% (to 47%); his party faces its first net-negative fav/unfav since Sept. 2007; and one-third think he has the right goals and priorities to fix the economy....