The "Give" Theory

Why did Nancy Pelosi, Bill Richardson and other party elders, so eager to see the presidential race decided after Ohio and Texas, suddenly change their minds when Hillary Clinton's margin of victory crept up a little higher than expected in Ohio?

I have a theory.

And this new NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll is the first point of evidence.

It shows voters preferring a Democratic-controlled Congress over a Republican-controlled Congress. Add to this: enormous voter enthusiasm on the Democratic side. A huge financial advantage ('xcept for the DNC). A huge disparity in party identification. Likely Senate seat pickups by Dems; likely House seat pickups by Dems; gasoline nearing four bucks a barrel; foreclosures; the Fed bailing out lenders; the president's approval rating at historic lows; the right-track, wrong-track figures being where they are; the economy heading into the recession....

The point is that the Democratic advantage has some give to it.... a few more months of a tough Democratic presidential race can bend that advantage... and may be even begin to create some microfractures, but the fundamentals are so well established that the risk in making sure that the presidential process plays itself out appropriately is well worth taking.