Politics

A Ray of Hope

Why today was a good day for Barack Obama.

Every day until the election, Slate will offer up one reason to be optimistic for your candidate.

47 days to go:

Today’s Good News for Obama: If Obama does win, he’ll need a more sympathetic Congress to make good on his second-term promises. Today brought welcome news on that front. While it had previously seemed likely that Democrats would lose the Senate, the FiveThirtyEight Forecasting model now gives Democrats a 79 percent chance of controlling it, up from just 39 percent a month ago. Politico also highlighted three Democratic candidates who have gained solid leads in recent days: Elizabeth Warren, ahead by 2-6 points in Massachusetts; Tammy Baldwin, ahead by 9 points in Wisconsin; and Tim Kaine, ahead by 7-8 points in Virginia. These Senate races reflect well on the top of the ticket, too—Obama also leads in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Virginia. If Democrats can keep this up, maybe they’ll hold on to the presidency and Senate after all.

See Barack Obama’s good news from Day 48, Day 49, and Day 50.

See today’s good news for Mitt Romney.