Chart of the day: GOP closing fast?

From the Economist, in a piece that predicts the GOP will win 42 House seats while losing 3 for a net gain of 39—just enough to get control at 218 to 217, with John Boehner taking the gavel from Nancy Pelosi.

Charlie Cook thinks it will be a bit worse.

What has gone wrong for the Dems?  “Almost everything,” says the newspaper.

All polls say Republicans and Independents are far more fired up to vote in the mid-terms than Dems.

What has gone right for the Dems?  The Tea Party’s beyond-the-pale histrionics.  But with share of voters labeling the Dems “too liberal” rising from 39% to 49%, the Tea Party’s excesses might simply be more reflective of the larger mood than subtractive for the GOP.