Democrats have slowed to a victory lap pace. They're measuring the majority offices for the new furniture they've already decided on. They're preparing for a two-month run of cheering crowds who can't wait to usher them to the throne.

But wait. The crowds aren't following the script.

While Republicans have rightly become unpopular - Democrats have never turned it into a zero-sum solution.

They've managed to berate Republicans to the point where people believe all politicians are crooked and evil.

While they've successfully strapped on the bomb vests and jumped on Republican programs against terrorism, they've left no one behind with their own plan.

While they've screamed until they can hardly speak that the Republicans are too tied to the religious right, they've watched gay marriage begin to take center stage again and leave them looking like the moral-less left to the majority of the country.

While they've successfully screamed about the deficits, their only solution (higher taxes) has been shown to be a sure loser with the American people (i.e. 1994).

While they've blasted Republicans for not spending enough on Medicare, polls have shown that seniors have changed their minds about the program and think it was a pretty good thing.

While they've screamed about not catching Osama Bin Laden, it hasn't escaped folks that the Democrats wanted to pull out of Iraq without catching Saddam or the leaders of terrorism there.

While they've blamed the President for not doing more to stop terrorism, folks have noticed terror plots foiled.

While they've called Bush a liar over Valerie Plame, they've been proven the liars.

While they've screamed about Republican corruption in Congress, they've had Cynthia McKinney and William Jefferson hung around their necks.

In the end, it all adds to up to Democrats providing nothing for the American people except that they're not Bush.

That won't be enough.

sharp

MSNBC headlines: (some aren't word for word)

"Mortgage Rates hit 5 month low"

"Natural Gas prices hit 2 year low"

"Senior Al Qaeda leaders caught and killed in Iraq"

"70 Al Qaeda fighters captured in Iraq"

Bloomberg recently announced:

"Jobless claims unexpectedly fall"

"Retail sales unexpectedly rise"

Rasmussen:

Bush approval at 47%

We also know that terror acts have been thwarted in England, ineffective in Syria and now Iran is coming to the table to negotiate.  With the price of oil falling, they'll need any support they can get from the world.

This is an angry Democrats worst nightmare.

sharp

...according to Rasmussen today.

If he holds 45 or higher, the Republicans win all over the place.

sharp

This may just last a day or two. Or it may be a continuation of the trend that has seen him move from the high 30's to low 40's over the last few months.

I think his support will stay in the mid-40's due to to three things:

1. September 11th and terror acts that have been thwarted recently
2. Post-Labor Day is when folks begin to really focus on issues and generally (1994 notwithstanding) they return to their roots
3. Dropping prices at the pump - which directly affects everyone where it matters, in the wallet

If gas prices continue to ease - and particularly if they even touch $1.99, then this President could see his approval ratings move back to the high 40's and Republicans will do far better at the polls than they would seem to do right now.

Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Oil producing countries, Israel, Syria and many other countries could change all this.  But for now, the momentum is swinging back to the Republicans - however slightly.

sharp

My son and I delivered groceries and toiletries to some very poor folks here in East Tennessee this past weekend. We only spent seconds at each apartment, but long enough to experience the world that exists hidden from each of us in our normal daily lives.

He was moved by their plight and I see him developing the empathy that one recent study says teenagers don't have.

It strikes me that there are three states of being:

1) The spiritual - fully involved in spiritual things and not really engaged in the physical world to a large degree

2) The carnal - fully wrapped in the physical world and enjoying its pleasures with only an eye to building wealth and enjoying the pleasures of life 

3) The desperate - merely existing and without hope for tomorrow - not engaged on either the spiritual or carnal level except to find a pack of cigarettes or a six-pack of beer. Or perhaps a sandwich and an aspirin.

The tragedy may be that the three seldom seem to intersect except for the brief few seconds like mine this past weekend.

This has been on my mind. Let's talk about it.

sharp