It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like 1994

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has some troubling numbers for Obama and the Democrats:

Republicans have significantly narrowed the gap with Democrats on who is trusted to deal with the country's problems and have sharply reduced several of President Obama's main political advantages, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey paints a portrait of a restless and dissatisfied electorate at the beginning of a critical election year. More than seven in 10 Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, and as many say they're inclined to look for new congressional representation as said so in 1994 and 2006, the last times that control of Congress shifted.

Asked how they would vote in the November House elections, Americans split evenly -- 46 percent siding with the Democrats, 46 percent with the Republicans. As recently as four months ago, Democrats held a 51 to 39 percent advantage on this question.

This poll still has Obama at 51% approval, 7% above where Rasmussen has him. Either Rasmussen's sample leans more Republican or WaPo leans more Democrat. However, historically Rasmussen has been pretty much right on the money in major races so I tend to believe that the WaPo sample tends to favor Democrats a bit more.

If that's true, of course, then things are even worse for Democrats than the WaPo poll would suggest and they've got their work cut out for them if they are to retain any portion of their majorities come November.