REPUBLICAN OPTIMISM – IS IT JUSTIFIED? – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:   The death of the Republican Party, or at least its electoral demise, are widely and routinely predicted.  We do it here, I readily admit.

But the party's chair is feelin' good, and it's up to us to decide whether the feeling has any merit.  From The Hill: 

Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna Romney McDaniel says the GOP is "in the best place" it's ever been.

During a visit to Denver, McDaniel said the party’s high fundraising shows a strong base, the Denver Post reported.

“The RNC has had, actually, record fundraising in a post-presidential year,” Romney McDaniel said. “That shows that our base is rallying around what our president put forward in terms of his agenda. … I think we’re in the best place we’ve ever been as a party.”

McDaniel’s comments come on the heels of several ongoing feuds between President Trump and GOP members of Congress, as well as with members of his own cabinet.

“There’s always going to be differences of opinion within your own party,” she said. “We have that in our own families — that happens — it makes us stronger when we have a dialogue and a discussion.”

Recent polls have shown the GOP’s popularity plummeting after the party failed to repeal and replace ObamaCare, and that Democrats lead Republicans by 14 points in a generic 2018 House ballot.

Even more recently, conservative leaders have called on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to resign.

COMMENT:  I think the actual picture is very mixed.  Republicans must produce actual results to retain control of Congress in next year's midterms. 

I wouldn't worry about polls right now.  The election is more than a year away.  But if Americans aren't given a tax cut, with all the promises and hoopla, the GOP will have nothing to take into the campaign.  I could even see circumstances where President Trump refused to endorse many Republican candidates for re-election.  He's that stubborn.  As noted here before, I think his ultimate goal is to start his own party. 

Of course, the Republicans can win by default if the Democrats continue their march to the left.   Or some unexpected international event can unify the country behind the president and his party. 

But right now I'm not nearly as optimistic as the party chair.  The party is getting a reputation for do-nothingism, and the president is being viciously hammered by the press just for existing.  This will not be easy.

October 13, 2017