NBC Admits "Blue Wave Turning Purple" As Republicans Outnumber Dems In Early Voting

"Is the blue wave turning purple?"

While this statement might not seem like much of a concession from left-leaning NBC News, a more thoughtful analysis reveals that it's just the latest indication of a shifting political reality - one that anti-Trump news organizations can no longer afford to ignore: That, just like in 2016, Republican turnout in the upcoming Nov. 6 midterm vote is already looking to be much higher than the polls initially predicted as issues like the migrant caravan and the contentious confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh have backfired on Democrats (who had hoped they would sway moderates to vote against Republicans) and instead galvanized the conservative movement and alienated those very same moderates they had hoped to attract.

According to the latest polling data, Republican-affiliated voters are outpacing Democratic-affiliated voters in early voting in seven closely watched battleground states. This according to data from TargetSmart, which was analyzed by NBC's Data Lab. Democratic candidates have already fallen behind in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, Tennessee and Texas. The only battleground state where early voting Democrats outnumbered their Republican peers was Nevada.

While early votes represent only a small fraction of the total, these data appear to confirm that the surge in interest among Republican voters reported by the Wall Street Journal last week has already translated into higher turnout at the ballot box.

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