I know this will not shock any reader, but just in case you have been on the moon, it might be worth noting--on this day especially--that politics is now officially on: we are having elections in November, and not only is the news is unremittingly bad for the Democrats, but they are now admitting it.  A CNN Poll released today is entitled, accurately, "GOP's midterm advantage is growing."  The poll finds the GOP leads the Democrats by 7 points on the "generic ballot" question, 52 percent to 45 percent. That 7-point advantage is up from a 3-point margin last month.  (I will not even mention that Rasmussen has GOP up by 12 points in the generic ballot).  Also note this from CNN poll: "Sixty-two percent of independents questioned say they would vote for the generic Republican in their district, with three in ten saying they'd cast a ballot for the generic Democrat.  That 32-point margin for the Republicans among independents is up from an 8-point advantage last month."  If the Dems have a plan to hold on to the House, it might be revealed in this NYT article, and it is not impressive.  They cannot run on the economy and health care, the two things for which they originally demanded credit.  I am impressed at how hollow and unpersuasive Democratic voices are, how Obama has lost even some of his friends on the left, and how ill prepared they seem to be in understanding what is happening to them, and why.

That Ohio's races have national significance is true enough (note Obama's many trips, including another to Cleveland on Wednesday), as a Quinnipiac Pollster pollster notes:

"With tight races for governor and senator, not to mention several close congressional contests, Ohio is likely to tell us not only which political party will be victorious but also how large the anticipated Republican wave turns out to be.

If the GOP can win these toss-up Ohio races, then a repeat of the 1994 Republican landslide might be possible nationally. Wins by the Democrats, however, would likely indicate that their losses might be smaller elsewhere, more in line with those typically suffered by a president's party at this point in the calendar."  The two latest polls in Ohio have Kasich leading Strickland by anywhere between 8 and 10 points, and for the Senate, Portman is ahead of Fisher by about a dozen points.  Also, all the enthusiasm is with the Republicans.

Along with everyone else, I understand that things can change, that anything may happen, that giddy minds might be busied with foreign quarrels, etc., and yet, it would seem that there will be a tidal wave of some kind (also see Larry Sabato's revaltively careful/conservative GOP predictions).  None of the facts reveal any comfort for the Democrats.