How Wrong Were the Pundits in 1994 ?

Swing State Project reports:

Prior to the 1994 elections, the Democrats held a comfortable 56-44 margin in the Senate and a huge 258-176 margin in the House. (Bernie Sanders had been kickin' it as the lone independent since 1991.) Those numbers are almost hard to believe today. After the election, the Dems were reeling. The GOP held a 52-48 advantage in the Senate (which would soon grow to 54-46 as two Democrats defected) and a 230-204 lead in the House (Sanders managed to barely hang on).

But no one saw it coming. Here, take a look:

Pundit Senate Margin House Margin
Alan Abramowitz GOP +2 DEM +28
Charlie Cook GOP +4 DEM +8
Ronald Lester DEM +2 DEM +26
Frank Luntz GOP +4 DEM +6
Mary Matalin GOP +6 GOP +4
Chris Matthews GOP +6 DEM +10
Ralph Reed GOP +2 DEM +20
Bill Schneider Even DEM +18
Marty Tolchin Even DEM +6
Ron Walters GOP +2 DEM +18
Fred Wertheimer Even DEM +14
Mark Shields GOP +2 DEM +12
Al Hunt GOP +2 DEM +10
Bob Novak GOP +6 GOP +6
Margaret Carlson GOP +2 DEM +22
Doug Bailey GOP +6 DEM +10
Fred Barnes GOP +6 DEM +6
Morton Kondracke GOP +4 GOP +14
John McLaughlin GOP +4 GOP +2
Jack Germond Even DEM +26
Eleanor Clift DEM +2 DEM +22
Average Prediction: GOP +2.57 DEM +11.24
Actual Outcome: GOP +4 GOP +25

Most pundits predicted that the GOP would take the Senate - fully fifteen were within ±2 of the right answer (which was GOP +4). But oh man, no one even came close to getting the House right. Only four people even said the GOP would emerge victorious, and none of them predicted the eventual 25-seat margin. As far as the House results were concerned, these predictions were almost entirely worthless.

This is all relevant because the Democrats should do well in the 2006 elections.What were those punidits thinking back in 1994? Gerrymandering would save the day? We'll bet it's just the fact that state and local polls started showing a weakness in support for Democratic candidates.Since most people in the media are Democrats it gets you back to the whole MSM.Even the more Republican leading pundits weren't right in their predictions.