In the wake of the Democratic landslide of 2008, many lefty pundits and writers gleefully proclaimed the GOP to be a marginalized — a rump party of southern white males. Some leading Republicans have gravely echoed the emerging conventional wisdom: RNC Chairman Michael Steele inflamed his rank-and-file by gratuitously raising the specter of racial politics. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sounded a cautionary note about the perils of limited/regional appeal. Other Congressional Republicans engaged in private and public hand-wringing, worriedly intoning about permanent minority status, Texasization, the Northeast problem, etc.

My, how the landscape has shifted:

Marginal? The GOP now boasts substantial leads in multiple 2010 generic congressional ballot polls.

Regional? In addition to electing a conservative governor in New Jersey and a certain senator from Massachusetts, Republicans are credibly competing for statewide office pick-ups in California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.

White? Despite the Left’s cynical and ugly campaign to apply the “racist” label to the GOP and its base, the New York Times reports that more blacks are running for Congress as Republicans in 2010 than in any year since reconstruction. (Good thing, too — blacks of all political stripes deserve better representation than this).

Male? See above. NPR notices the “historic” number of women — including many conservative women — running under the GOP banner this year.

Who knows how the mid term elections will ultimately play out, but pontificators on both sides would be well-served to remember that no matter how energizing or deflating any given election cycle may be, “permanent majorities” are rare birds in American politics.