Poof!

Remember that 10-point Gallup Poll lead the Republicans were cheering about last week? Well, it's gone:

Say goodbye to the 10-point lead Republicans enjoyed in last week's Gallup poll of generic congressional preferences.

Gallup's weekly tracking poll of the generic ballot, a key predictor of voters' actions in elections, showed Democrats and Republicans tied at 46 percent -- down from the 10-point lead the GOP held just a week ago.

Read the complete story here.

There are a couple of ways you could read this news. First, you might conclude that the Republicans had suffered an epic 10-point collapse inside one week. Second, and far more likely, is that last week's poll wasn't a very good poll and wasn't really reflective of the national mood. I tend to believe the latter, though it's not beyond the realm of possibility that many Americans are afraid of what a Tea Party takeover would mean and are starting to rally to the Democrats.

Either way, this thing is much closer than most people think.