Right now, I’m fighting against the urge to get my hopes up for the November. But it’s hard when you keep seeing numbers like this from Pew Research:

A majority of Americans (57%) say they have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, up six points since July 2007 and 10 points since July 2006.

In contrast, views of the Republican Party remain at historic lows. Currently, 53% of Americans express unfavorable views of the Republican Party while only 39% say they have a favorable opinion of the party. These ratings are unchanged from July 2007, and have changed little since April 2006.

That’s great news for Democrats nationwide, but what does it mean for statehouses?

The strength of the brand certainly ought to help some legislators, but for the most part, our candidates will be running local races focused on a host of issues that are different from those obsessed about in Washington. None of us are immune to the enthusiasm that is out there right now, but the reality is that we still have turn out enough votes on Election Day to win. The challenge we face is putting all this energy to work.