A press release from National Republican Congressional Committee caught my eye this afternoon. It begins:

New Polling Spells Trouble for Dicks
Dicks’ Job in Trouble as Dem Approval, Pelosi Ratings Tank
 
Washington- Recent polling paints a grim picture for Norman Dicks’ re-election prospects. After supporting his party boss Nancy Pelosi’s big-spending, tax-hiking agenda 99 percent of the time, Dicks is facing a lot of trouble from his electorate in November. According to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Washintonians (sic) are growing weary of Democrats’ tired and failed policies.
…
“With the writing on the wall, Norman Dicks has plenty of reasons to be concerned about his upcoming re-election,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “After voting for billions in new taxes, Washintonians have become disenchanted with Washington Democrats and their big-spending, tax-hiking agenda.  As the country’s economy continues to struggle, Dicks’ unbridled support for his party leaders’ runaway spending spree will cost him big in November’s election.

But it looked somehow familiar. Sure ’nuff, checked my deleted messages and found this one from NRCC, sent 20 minutes earlier.

New Polling Spells Trouble for Teague
Teague’s Job in Trouble as Dem Approval, Pelosi Ratings Tank
 
Washington- Recent polling paints a grim picture for Harry Teague’s re-election prospects. After supporting his party boss Nancy Pelosi’s big-spending, tax-hiking agenda almost 90 percent of the time, Teague is facing a lot of trouble from his electorate in November. According to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, New Mexicans are growing weary of Democrats’ tired and failed policies.
…
“With the writing on the wall, Harry Teague has plenty of reasons to be concerned about his upcoming re-election,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “After voting for billions in new taxes, New Mexicans have become disenchanted with Washington Democrats and their big-spending, tax-hiking agenda.  As the country’s economy continues to struggle, Teague’s unbridled support for his party leaders’ runaway spending spree will cost him big in November’s election.”

Other than the name of congressman and state, the releases were identical, the product of a fill-in-the-blank auto generator of some sort.

So, more to the point, how worried should the entrenched 17-term Belfair Democrat be?

The NRCC cites the results for a recent poll that focused on dissatisfaction with Democrats in 11 western states, not including California. Among the findings:

•The Republican Party now enjoys a better image rating than the Democratic Party in Western states. You might have to read the previous sentence again. While the image of the GOP is not really much to crow about (27% positive and 44% negative), the Democrats are in a worse position perceptually – 29% view the party favorably and 53% view the Democratic Party negatively. (Nicole McCleskey, “Western States Update: GOP Back on Top,” Public Opinion Strategies, 1/08/2010)
 
•Republican – 47% GOP/36% Dem. Nationally, it’s a one-point Democrat advantage on the generic ballot (37% GOP/38% Dem). We have closed the gap nationally with big help from voters in the West. (Nicole McCleskey, “Western States Update: GOP Back on Top,” Public Opinion Strategies, 1/08/2010)

Generally, those kinds of numbers might intimidate Dems in the West (maybe that’s one reason Brian Baird has dropped out.) But the last time I looked, Dicks in particular didn’t look vulnerable: He has $634,941 cash on hand and no opponent so far, according to the Federal Elections Commission.