Republicans' losses are Democrats' gains

Several recent polls show the president reaching new lows in national support, but there's one trend that shouldn't go overlooked: Americans actually like Democrats for the first time in a long while. For months, voters seemed to take a pox-on-both-your-houses attitude. The data consistently showed the public souring on the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress, but simultaneously reflect the fact that they weren't all that crazy about Dems either. Those days are over. Last month, an LA Times/Bloomberg poll asked Americans about their impressions of the parties in general -- and Republicans were viewed negatively; Dems were viewed positively. Last week, a USA Today/Gallup poll showed similar results. And today, a New York Times/CBS News poll made the trend even more obvious.

The problems plaguing the Republicans have clearly helped the Democrats: 55 percent said they now had a favorable view of the Democratic Party, compared with 37 percent with an unfavorable view. By contrast, 57 percent had an unfavorable view of Republicans, compared with 37 percent who had a favorable view.

We're looking at a landscape in which Republicans are not only falling, but Dems are finally rising

--guest post by Steve from The Carpetbagger Report