LET'S START THE WEEK WITH GOOD NEWS

Good news may be in short supply later this week, so let’s pack on as much good news as we can when we get it.

For months now, the Republicans have been rubbing their hands in anticipation of taking back the Senate, so they can either enable Trump’s creation of a fascist state, or impede and jam up Biden for at least the first half of his second term.

It appears their optimism may have been premature. From the NYT (which means you can watch as you read this and see how they pooh-pooh the good news for Democrats) this morning:

Democratic candidates for the Senate in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin lead their Republican rivals and are running well ahead of President Biden in key states where he continues to struggle, according to polls by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College.

Ticket-splitters are not abundant — about 10 percent of Trump voters back the Democratic candidate for Senate in the four states, while about 5 percent of Biden supporters back the Republican.

But those voters are enough to give Democrats a chance at holding the Senate, where they currently hold a one-seat majority. To maintain control, the Democrats would have to sweep every competitive Senate seat and win the White House.

In Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, has the support of 46 percent of voters, against the 41 percent who say they back his Republican challenger, the wealthy finance executive David McCormick, although Mr. Trump holds a slender advantage in a head-to-head race with Mr. Biden, 47 percent to 44 percent.

In Wisconsin, the Democratic incumbent, Senator Tammy Baldwin, holds a wider, 49-percent-to-40 percent lead over the Republican banker Eric Hovde. Mr. Biden is up slightly against Mr. Trump, 47 percent to 45 percent.

In Nevada, where Mr. Biden is struggling the most, Senator Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, narrowly leads her Republican challenger, Sam Brown, a wounded combat veteran, 40 percent to 38 percent, with 23 percent of registered voters undecided.

In Arizona, the one battleground state polled with an open Senate seat, Representative Ruben Gallego, a Phoenix-area Democrat, leads Kari Lake, the Republican former news anchor who is closely allied with Mr. Trump, 45 percent to 41 percent, with 14 percent undecided. Mr. Trump leads Mr. Biden in Arizona, 49 percent to 42 percent.

The contrasting results underscore the power of incumbency, and how it appears to be nullified in the case of a former president challenging a sitting president. Voter after voter expressed comfort with the sitting Senate Democrat, and an almost complete lack of knowledge about the Republican challengers.

“Jacky Rosen has been around a long time,” said Brian Dickinson, a 25-year-old registered Democrat in Las Vegas who said he was considering splitting his ticket and voting for Mr. Trump. “I think she’s a very good Democrat.”

In Pennsylvania, 23 percent of Republicans viewed Mr. Casey favorably, while only 6 percent had a favorable view of Mr. Biden.

Casey “is a name that I’ve heard,” said Harry Wirebach, a 56-year-old veteran and unaffiliated voter in Croydon, Pa. Mr. Casey was first elected to the Senate in 2006; his father, Bob Casey, was a two-term Pennsylvania governor.

But that Democratic advantage has not lifted Mr. Biden’s standing, and very few respondents lacked opinions about the leading candidates for president.

Sooo…. concentrate on the polling numbers and take comfort from them, to give power to keep working out asses off for all Democrats on the ballot in November.

The NMYT’s publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, has obviously joined the Silly Con Valley Caucus of Broken Toys - all the semi-civilized over-rich former Democrat computer geeks who are upset that the government would have the gall to attempt to regulate their destruction of society, along with the Wall Street pigs who are always on the lookout for another opportunity to not pay their fair share.

The rule is: Keep on keeping on!

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