The Great Liberal Realignment Dies a Quick Death

After the 2006/2008 elections conventional political wisdom declared that the nation had undergone a "great liberal realignment" and that Democrat congressional control was here to stay.

Wrong. (h/t Hot Air):

Republicans have reassembled their coalition by reconnecting with independents, seniors, blue-collar voters, suburban women and small town and rural voters—all of whom had moved away from the party in the 2006 elections, in which Republicans lost control of the House. Those voter groups now favor GOP control of Congress…

Mr. Hart noted that, to his own party’s detriment, a series of major news events and legislative achievements—including passage of a sweeping health care law, negotiating a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia and making a quick arrest in the Times Square terrorism attempt—has not measurably increased support for Democrats. “A lot has happened,” he said, “but the basic dynamic of the 2010 elections seems almost set in concrete.”…

The voters who said they were most interested in the November elections favor Republican control of Congress by a 20-point margin, with 56% backing the GOP and 36% backing Democrats-the highest gap all year on that question…

[D]espite White House predictions that passage of Mr. Obama’s health care bill would boost Democrats in November, the issue still appears to be more of a drag on the president’s party. Some 44% called the health plan a bad idea, compared to 38% who saw it as a good idea.

I'm predicting 61 seats in the house. Probably 7-8 in the Senate. Speaker John Boehner and a quick retirement by Nancy Pelosi.

That used to be an unrealistic dream, but not anymore.