GOP Now Polls Neck-and-Neck with Dems

Bad news for the Democratic Party. A CNN poll has the GOP within 1% of the Democratic Party in a poll where respondents were asked whether the country would be better off under the leadership of one party or the other. Congressional job approval has dropped to dismal levels, and this all comes at the threshold of the 2010 primary season.

Recent polling shows widespread dissatisfaction from voters on how the president has dealt with the issues of health care, the economy, and jobs. Though media outlets like MSNBC often attribute this to unrest within the liberal base over Obama's centrist policies, internal Democratic polling suggests this is not the case.

It is clear that time is running out for the Democrats in 2010. The Republicans have the political momentum and an energized and entrenched base. That doesn't mean that the party should sound the retreat, but it does mean that they will have to weather the storm of lost seats in the House and possibly the Senate. Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight keeps a good record of which seats are most vulnerable.