There is no mistaking what's going on in the minds of Republicans right now in the Congress.  They are dreaming about historic gains in the November elections.

No one wanted to say it with my tape recorder running as I buttonholed lawmakers this week.  But you could see it in their eyes.  You could hear it in their voices.

"It could be historic," said one GOP'er in a stage whisper, as if some of his colleagues near us might reach over, smack him with a ruler and tell him to be quiet.

What has Republicans more excited than anything is the constant flow of good numbers about independent voters, who are swinging as much to the GOP in 2010 as they were to Democrats in 2008.

We saw that in recent polls from Ohio and Pennsylvania, where members I talked to Thursday said they were now hoping for major Republican gains.

One bit of evidence bolstering that was from the suburbs of Philadelphia, where Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) was trailing by 14 points among likely voters.

Murphy was elected in 2006, when the Democrats took back the Congress from Republicans.  He prospered in 2008, but now could be in deep trouble with five plus weeks to go.

Some experts think as many as six or more Democrats could be defeated in Pennsylvania if there is a big GOP wave.

"How big of a gain in the House?" was my question to a number of GOP lamwakers.

"60 seats is not out of the question," said one.  Republicans need to pick up 39 seats to take charge.  They won a net of 54 seats in 1994.

Another said he thought the win could even be higher than 60 - maybe more like 80.

Democrats hotly dispute those kind of numbers, but a new poll from Pew Research showed a strong advantage for Republicans among independent voters, along with a survey from the Associated Press.

The AP-GFK poll showed independents favoring Republicans by 16 percent - which then jumped to a 33 point edge among independents considered likely to vote.

Read that again - a 33 point advantage among independents.

That's not a win.  That's a complete landslide.

We'll know in five weeks which polls were right and which ones were not.