Tidbit of the Day, from Rasmussen:

Democrats now have a net advantage of 3.3 percentage points over the GOP. In June of 2004, the Democrats had a 2.5 percentage point advantage. Please keep in mind that these figures are for all adults, not Likely Voters. Republicans typically do a bit better among Likely Voters (in fact, the two parties ended up even among those who showed up to vote in 2004).

The whole "registered vs. likely" thing has been explained in great detail (see here and here for examples) but is just one more reason why the numbers you see (and WILL see) from the MSM polls are likely to be skewed.

Otto's thought for the day: Politics is first and foremost about winning. "If I were a Reepub candidate"...I would hit that ANWR issue like a heavy bag. If my opponent is on the record for voting or verbally in favor of the caribou over the humans, I would make a huge point of it. There is going to be a LOT of anger about gas prices come November, and most of it will be initially aimed at the incumbents.

Finally, in the "Libs Say The Darndest Things" department, the following:

Wednesday, November 3, 3:15PM...For many opponents of Bush, this election has been a wrenching event, not unlike a death in the family.

This was blogged by a freakin' PROFESSOR at freakin' PRINCETON, the day after the 2004 Presidential election -- and not some liberal arts weenie either. The guy is in freakin' MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Anecdotal, to be sure, but to me perfectly illustrative of how religious these people are about their politics. A death in the family?! Are you kidding me?!

When you take that kind of irrational emotion into the market, any market, you're gonna get yer clock molecularly cleaned. I hope Prof Wang has some dough in the IEM. So does Dixi.