This is unlikely to be a direct re-run of the 1966 election for House and Senate. (This illustration is of the 1966 House races, from Wikipedia. Note the biggest Republican swings were in the Midwest.)
It's going to be much, much worse for Republicans than that.
In 1966 Democrats lost 48 House seats and only 3 Senate seats. Such a result this time would give them a healthy House majority neutered by a Senate minority.
In that year, Democrats tried very hard to make Republicans the issue. They called them dangerous. They called them warmongers. They linked them to Joe McCarthy and Herbert Hoover. The trouble was both were dead.
Republicans this year at least have live villains. The problem is the claims don't pass the smell test. And anger against the Bush Administration is becoming palpable. As angry as Republican rhetoric may be, Democratic rhetoric is angrier, and this is a new phenomenon. Even the Republican "Munich" argument is finally getting some serious push-back.
After a generation in which Democrats could only succeed as "yeah-but" Anti-Thesis politicians, the louder and more in-your-face Democrats are starting to get the loudest cheers. While the Open Source Thesis has yet to emerge (beyond this blog), I believe this is only a matter of time.
At some point Democrats will have to stand for something, and the values of this medium will be staring them in the face. Figure, December.
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