Tea Partiers Energize -- the Democrats?!?

A week ago, the Republicans held a 10-point advantage over Democrats in Gallup's "Generic Congressional Ballot" poll. ("If the election were held today, would you vote for a Democrat or a Republican?") This was the highest GOP advantage ever recorded by Gallup in a mid-term election. Everywhere I looked, Democrats were running around screaming "We're doomed! Doomed, I tell you!"

Guess what? Some of us got tired of hearing the election was lost before we even hit Labor Day. Many of us got real tired of watching Tea Baggers proclaim themselves as the saviors of the Republican party, the 2010 election, and of the country. And many, many of us came to the realization that if we say on our hands, the Right-Wing Crazies were going to take over again, and look what THAT got us -- wars, death, pollution, incompetence, graft, loss of civil and human rights, and trillions of dollars lost to Wall Street.

And finally, the White House got in the game. Perhaps they were waiting till Labor Day, thinking that "no one pays attention to any of this in August." President Obama put forward proposals that, if not channeling FDR, at least echoed him. Democratic candidates decided to run as Democrats and not Republican-Lite. ("Less filling, tastes horrible.")

Democrats around the country said to themselves, "Well, we haven't gotten all we wanted -- and what we got wasn't all it could have been -- but I'll be DAMNED if I'm gonna let Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, not to mention Mitch and Orange-Boy Boehner, run this country into the ditch again!"

And, throughout it all, the Tea-Partiers, Glenn Beck, and the other RWC helped the cause simply by being themselves. It's an interesting set of statistics -- the Tea Party has high energy within its ranks, and has brought that energy to the Repubs. Unfortunately for the Repubs, and fortunately for the rest of us, those Tea Party folks also brought the crazy. And the public noticed. Outside its own ranks, the Tea Party only has a 21% approval rating. That's George W territory, folks.

So, add it all up, and where do we find ourselves right after Labor Day, 2010? That ten-point Gallup lead that the Repubs had? It's GONE. Latest poll has the generic ballot all tied up. Dems are starting to show some movement in local polls around the country. Fund-raising is picking up; volunteers are coming out; enthusiasm is growing.

And Republicans? They've got nothing except more fear-mongering, more Obama-bashing, more dirty tricks, more Party of No. Ideas? Fresh out. Leadership? Fresh out of that, too.

But they've got plenty of Tea. And as long as that's all they're serving, I'm betting the American people will continue to say "Uhm, no thanks. I get sick when I drink that." Instead, when given a clear choice, the American voter is going to choose Democratic.

'Cause they know a weak tea when they see it.