New Poll Finds GOP Running Even in Congressional Popularity: Four of Five Say ObamaCare Will Increase Deficit, 85 Percent Expect Tax Increases!

From CNN, "GOP Has Erased Party Popularity Gap in Congress" (via Memeorandum):

Eleven months before crucial midterm elections, a national poll indicates that the public is divided over whether the country would be better off with Democrats or Republicans controlling Congress.

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday, 40 percent of people questioned say the U.S. would be better off if Democrats ran Congress while 39 percent feel things would be better if Republicans took charge on Capitol Hill. The 1-point margin is a statistical tie.

Support for Democrats is down from a 10-point advantage in August and a 25-point margin in January.

"As the debate over health care continues, the Democrats may have lost the competitive advantage that they enjoyed earlier this year," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "Since August, the number who support Democratic control of Congress has fallen farthest in the Northeast and the Pacific Rim -- two regions that have been Democratic strongholds for many years."

Nineteen percent of people questioned say that the country would be in the same condition regardless of which party controls Congress.

There are some extremely interesting internals to the poll as well. These fiindings are from last week: Sixty-one percent oppose the current Senate health bill working through the Congress. And at the screencap, 79 percent expect healthcare reform to widen the deficit, and a whopping 85 percent expect to see tax hikes:

These findings come precisely as news that the "11th hour" Medicare buy-in compromise will increase costs and accelerate the insolvency of the program, as Medicare eligibility drops to 55 years-old.

In short, the Democrats are riding the rails to an epic ideological-political train-wreck, and as it stands now the GOP is looking to pick up a record number of seats in both chambers of Congress next year. Note too that the president's party nearly always loses seats in the midtems, and an earthquake election could turn Barack Obama's administration into an even bigger disaster than Bill Clinton's in 1993-94.

RELATED: Seattle Weekly, "Rep. Brian Baird Retiring, Making It Harder for Democrats to Keep 2010 Majority."

And from last month, at Gallup, "Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats in 2010 Vote."

See also, Allahpundit, "Oh my: GOP within one on generic ballot."

ADDED: Gateway Pundit, "61% of Americans Against Democrat’s Nationalized Health Care Bill," and Snooper Report, "It Doesn't Matter Who Is Against The Federal Health Care Bill."