Rump Party No More

If there is one sure thing in American politics its that there are no sure things. Following the election of Barack Obama the future of the Republican Party seemed more than a little bleak to most of us. The left-0-sphere was celebrating that the remnants of the GOP as nothing more than a southern Rump party, but as Granddad used to say, "Rave on cat shit... you'll get covered up."

In January 2009 the GOP could only claim 5 states, with 10 states competitive.



Jump ahead to July 2010



In less than two years under the reign of Obama the GOP has picked up 7 states and made 6 more competitive. Note that Gallup swapped the color identification for the solid and leaning states which forces you to do some mental gymnastics to see that 9 solidly Dem states are now in the lean Dem column.

According to a Rassmusen report, "Republican candidates now hold a 10-point lead over Democrats on the generic Congressional ballot. Voters not affiliated with either party prefer the Republican candidate by a 44% to 23% margin," That's quite a reversal of fortunes for a party that was declared dead two years ago.