PREDICTIONS. As I've come of political age in the Bush era, I'm never comfortable watching expectations rise, my historical memory being an uninterrupted cycle of lifted optimism followed by dashed hopes. That said, with more and more pundits predicting a Democratic landslide, it's worth noting that there's a self-fulfilling aspect to these declarations. The stronger the conventional wisdom that Democrats are going to retake Congress, the more business and funders will seek to get on the good side of the coming majority party, and the less they'll see Republicans as a good investment. That means Democratic campaigns will have more resources with which to contest marginal or closely-fought seats, while Republican campaigns will have fewer. And, particularly in an environment where Democrats will get close to overturning Republican rule, those cash infusions could mean the difference between Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Emmanuel.
--Ezra Klein
