POLLING LATEST – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  From The Hill:

Republicans are winning eight out of 10 competitive open House seats surveyed in a groundbreaking new poll by The Hill.

Taken on top of 11 GOP leads out of 12 freshman Democratic districts polled last week, The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll points toward 19 Republican victories out of 22 races, while Democrats win only two and one is tied.

This is part of a continuing series of Hill polls.  The result thus far...

...suggests a string of important pickup victories by the GOP in the midterm election just three weeks away.

Republican candidates have taken big leads in two districts Democrats have held for nearly a century and a half-century, respectively, according to The Hill’s survey. A Republican is also ahead in the heavily Democratic district that contains President Obama’s hometown of Honolulu.

Many races are tight — 12 of the 22 fall within the margin of error — but the margins, though slim, preponderantly favor the GOP.

COMMENT:  Absolutely remarkable.  Not to be a party pooper, but I want to point out the number of races falling within the margin of error...demonstrating the need to keep fighting and campaigning up until the last minute.  We can smile at the trend, but the smile will be wider if it's confirmed on election night.

October 13, 2010