GOP Winning Hearts And Minds

As the Iowa primary nears and a last round of polling tells us next to nothing, here's one poll that actually is meaningful, from Rassmussen:

The number of Americans who consider themselves to be Republicans jumped nearly two percentage points in December to 34.2%. That’s the largest market share for the Republican brand in nearly two years, since January 2006 (see history from January 2004 to present).

At the same time, the number of Democrats fell to 36.3%. That’s down a point compared to a month ago. During 2007, the number of Democrats has ranged from a low of 35.9% in July to a high of 37.8% in February.

In May, the GOP hit a four-year low at 30.8% as the immigration debate turned off many GOP faithful to the party's leadership, and before the positive effects of the Surge were evident.

Dems, who have enjoyed a positive gap in the mid-four to high-six percent range for the last couple years, are feeling the squeeze just as primary season begins -- the worst possible timing. Combine the success in the War on Terror with the incredible ineptness of the Pelosi-Reid leadership, and the plummeting numbers are not surprising.