It’s been a long time (months? years?) since we’ve seen national Democrats in such a good mood about their electoral chances. Over the last few weeks — amid a spate of legislative movement, falling gas prices, stumbling Republican Senate candidates and the sense of a growing backlash to efforts to restrict abortion — the fight for control of Congress seems to have tightened. Gone are the days when pundits confidently predicted a red tsunami.

The latest NBC News poll — which still shows Republicans with a lead in the generic congressional ballot — had two data points that stuck out to us:

1. Democrats have almost eliminated the enthusiasm gap with Republicans. “According to the survey, 68% of Republicans express a high level of interest in the upcoming election … versus 66% for Democrats,” notes Mark Murray. “That 2-point GOP advantage is down from 17 points in March and 8 points in May.”

2. Voters ranked “threats to democracy” as a more important issue than cost of living.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Aug. 22, 2022: A shifting center of attention reshapes 2022