In sports it's called a "momentum changer" - the one play, or goal or penalty call that signals a shift in what is currently a lopsided contest. Usually it is more of a psychological shift than a physical one - after all most times the scoreboard continues to reflect a decided advantage for the winning team. But the "momentum changer" tells fans and players that the game is far from over.
In Washington, as most insiders have noticed, there has been a political "momentum changer." A couple of weeks of good news for Republicans - the killing of Zarqawi and a special election win in CA-50 - as well as a sharpening media focus on Democratic disunity on Iraq has halted months of steady gloom and doom news for the GOP. One Democratic strategist conceded the other day that "expectations have been recalibrated" in recent days for Democrats' chances at winning control of the House. This is a significant change from late April and early May when even GOP strategists were privately lamenting that their hopes for holding the majority
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