On your mark, get set…

...don't panic. mistermix...

While Democrats could have been doing better during the past few months, the fact remains that John Boehner is not popular, that doing nothing in the middle of an almost-depression is not popular, that sneering at teachers, cops and firemen is not popular, and that tax cuts for those making $250K or more are not popular. There’s a case to be made here, Obama made it, and Democrats will be making it in the next two months. I am not ready to write off the House, because this campaign is just getting started.

Need I say me too? Consider it said.

From the "Then again…" file.

Chris Grygiel performs a public act of journalism, peeking behind the headlines into the crosstabs of the new outlier poll on the Murray-Rossi race. Like an iceberg, most of the story is lurking below the surface.

...according to SurveyUSA, Rossi was favored over Murray by people in Western Washington by 53-44 percent and the two were tied in the greater Seattle area at 48 percent. However in Tuesday's primary, Murray did better than Rossi in every Western Washington county except one - Lewis County (click here for the results). In King County, which is Seattle and its suburbs, Murray ran up huge numbers on Rossi. She won 59 percent to 27 percent, prevailing by more than 120,000 votes.

Hmmm.

Crossfiled under "Don't Panic."

Worth repeating.

Mike Lux...

The polling business is far more of an art than a science, is easily manipulated, and is open to as many interpretations as there are people looking at the polls.

Another note for the "Don't panic" file.

From the "Don't Panic" file.

Chris Bowers is worried…

Washington: If two-time Gubernatorial loser Dino Rossi were to enter the campaign against Patty Murray, he would start the campaign 2% ahead, according to Rasmussen polling.

Take a deep breath, Chris. I doubt that you'll find anyone close to the ground here in the upper left who believes that this bit of "Rasmussen recruitment" has a meaningful relationship with reality. Not that we don't have to get the work done to get Patty re-elected, but if the work gets done, she will be re-elected. I think she'll be a potent top of the ticket, too, helping in some competetive down ballot races.

Don't panic.



But don't rest, either. There's work to do.

From the "Don't panic" file...

Mike Lux sheds some (ahem) light over at Open Left, offering sage counsel for following the health insurance (or most any other) debate in Congress. It's all good, but these last bits deserve widespread repetition and attention...

5. Don't assume that anything in either the Senate or House bill is in there for good. Some things are inserted into bills specifically to be traded away at conference committee time.

6. Don't panic over anything, just keep organizing for what you want. A lot of groups are doing list building right now, seizing on real or imagined rumors to try to panic people into signing petitions or giving money. Most of these panic attacks are phony. My advice to activists out there is to just keep working hard on grassroots organizing around the issues you care the most about, and not worry too much over the panic attacks.

Yep.

Don't panic, organize.

Yep.

An entry for the "Don't Panic" file from Nate Silver...

The Democrats could find themselves in a better position after the August recess or they could find themselves in a worse one -- how's that for a bold prediction! But liberals' doom-and-gloom, conservatives' glee, and the media's nearsighted reporting are all equally uncalled for.

It's true about health care, the subject du jour, and about a bunch of other things as well. I know we've all been starving for a little progress for a long time, but sometimes it's best to wait until the soup is done. I'm not nuts about the pace of the Senate myself, but what I hear Harry Reid saying, regardless of what he said, is that he doesn't have the votes for a bill that would pass muster with the House and the executive, and I don't think it's Republican votes that are at the root of the problem.

Savor the smell. It's cooking.

That's good.

But it's not soup yet.

That's…well, patience is said to be a virtue.