All the outstanding questions of the 2010 campaign boil down to this: How big is the wave?
Republicans appear to be on the cusp of a historic victory, potentially extending into every level of state and federal government. Beyond the race-by-race polling — across 435 House districts, 37 Senate races and 37 gubernatorial races — all the large-scale signals point toward the GOP.
The POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll showed in late October that 64 percent of likely voters believe the country is on the wrong track, as opposed to just 29 percent who say it’s headed in the right direction. Gallup found independent voters leaning toward the GOP by a 28-percentage-point margin, 59 percent to 31 percent.
Whether Republicans can fully exploit that environment — or whether Democrats have adequately braced themselves for impact — is another story.
Here are the most important results we’ll be watching on election night for clues about where the 2010 campaign is headed — and what it all means:
