Does it matter who's in charge?

Democrats who listen to the mainstream media may well be demoralized. They're being told that the U.S. has taken a hard turn to the right and that trying to do anything in this lame-duck session is pointless. Well, this interpretation of the midterm election results is wrong. Here's the latest from a CNN poll:

Asked if Republicans would do a better job of running the House, 44 percent said it would make no difference, 33 percent said they'd do better and 21 percent said worse. In 2006, 46 percent believed the newly-enabled Democratic majority would do a better job of running the House than the Republicans, 14 percent said they'd do worse and 39 percent predicted there'd be no difference.

Forty-one percent also said they don't think Republican control will make much difference when it comes to getting things done, while 32 percent believe more will get done and 26 percent predict less will get done.

The problem isn't that there's a major new groundswell of support for Republicans and their ideas. Only 33% expect positive change from Republican control of the house. This is likely the same third of the population who stood by the Republicans-- even after George W. Bush had done his worst damage to the party's reputation in his second term. The problem is that for many years most Americans have seen both parties as too deeply flawed to do a good job of running the country. In 2006 many Americans were completely fed up with Republican rule. Yet only 46% were convinced the Democrats could do a better job. Nearly as many (39%) felt that it didn't matter who was in charge. Now that "plague on both their houses" point of view is shared by 44% of survey respondents.

Now is a moment where the discouraged indifference of the public could be challenged. A vigorous defense of the "other 98%," leaving the Republicans no quarter, might give people something to recall, with fondness, as the plutocrats further destroy our freedoms and prosperity over the next couple of years. Are you ready, Harry Reid?