GREAT SCOTT – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  There are the "professionals," and then there are the real experts, the grown-ups, the people we depend on.  Scott Rasmussen, always seems to come out of elections with a more solid record than almost anyone else.

Now he gives us a keen insight into what happened on Tuesday, and one conclusion he reaches is that the Democrats were very effective in fighting back toward the end of the campaign, and limiting their losses:

Most significantly, Democrats were able to focus their attention and resources on building a firewall to protect their control of the Senate. During the closing weeks of the campaign, Democrats closed the gap in places like Illinois, Pennsylvania and Colorado. In West Virginia, Governor Joe Manchin overcame a lethargic start to his campaign and won convincingly while promising to oppose the health care law and other Democratic initiatives. Big names were brought in to help Patty Murray survive in Washington.

The Real Clear Politics (RCP) polling summary highlights just how effective this approach was. In all seven states considered a Toss-Up by RCP, the Democrats outperformed the polling averages. In fact, the final results for these races showed the Democrats doing better than at least 82% of all polls conducted by all firms during the closing weeks of the campaign (the final margin is not yet known in Washington, so this number might increase a bit).

While Democrats were outperforming expectations in these competitive Senate races, outside the firewall the Republicans were as likely as the Democrats to outperform the polls.

COMMENT:   Bottom line, you have to fight back in politics.  You have to always fight.  Americans are listening.  They aren't potted plants, which is the image some snotty journalists and professors would like to create.  When you fight, you present your argument.  No fight, no argument. 

Let's remember that as we now enter the 2012 presidential sweepstakes.  This isn't going to be easy.

November 6, 2010