WHY I WORRY

I worry because there are too many stories like this:

Democrats fare better than their Republican counterparts in head-to-head presidential matchups in Washington state with the exception of one, according to a new poll.

SurveyUSA asked registered voters in Washington who they would most likely vote for if the election were held today.

Nine different head-to-head matchups were given involving Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, and Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney.

In all but one, the Democrat won. The only difference was the matchup between Giuliani and Clinton, which ended in a tie....

Washington is a blue state. Nationwide in '04, Bush won 51%-48%; in Washington, Kerry won 53%-46%. Bush is 20 or so points less popular than he was when won in '04 -- so why is the Democratic front-runner, matched up with the Republican front-runner, doing 7 points worse than Kerry did in '04?

Yes, the other matchups look better -- two in particular:

The largest margin of victory was 24 percent between Edwards and Romney. The second largest was 22 percent between Obama and Romney.

As Democrats, should we all be sending money to Romney?

****

UPDATE: Yeah, the Giuliani campaign's map showing him either likely to win or able to contend in 48 out of 50 states against Hillary is rather hubristic -- but really, what state in the union is absolutely blue? California, which just reelected its Republican governor? Maine, which has two Republican senators? New Jersey, where a Democratic Senate candidate barely won despite a national anti-Bush sentiment? Massachusetts, which has had more Republican than Democratic governors over the past half-century? Connecticut, which has a Republican governor and just reelected the most war-crazed senator in America? This blogger "call[s] bullsh*t" on the Giuliani claim -- but how can he say "the fact is that Hillary Clinton is going to own the Northeast and West Coast states" when she's neck-and-neck with Rudy in Washington State?

Giuliani does put more states in play. That's because, while everyone's trying to figure out how many GOP primaary voters really know that Rudy's pro-choice and pro-gay rights, no one's trying to figure out how many non-Republicans know that Rudy is a Republican, and on many issues a very, very right-wing Republican.

****

UPDATE: Well, yes, maybe New York State is unswervingly blue -- a new Quinnipiac poll shows Clinton 11 points ahead of Rudy and trouncing all other GOP candidates. But Quinnipiac also told us recently that Giuliani leads Hillary by 1 in New Jersey, so there's another heretofore blue state definitely in play.