US: Republicans face the prospect of big losses in next month's congressional elections, according to a new poll that puts the party's favourability rating at an all-time low as President George Bush's approval rating remains stuck below 40 per cent.
The Wall Street Journal poll finds that just 16 per cent of Americans approve of the job the Republican-controlled Congress is doing - the lowest figure since 1992.
"There is not a single number in here that would suggest the Democrats will not have their best showing in a decade - and maybe two decades," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the poll with Republican Bill McInturff.
According to the poll, Republicans and Mr Bush are now in worse political shape than the Democrats were when they lost control of Congress in 1994.
Some 52 per cent of voters say they want Democrats to control Congress, giving them a 15-point lead over Republicans. More than half of independent voters want a Democratic victory, compared to a quarter who want a Republican win.
"It's very unusual to see a majority of independents pick one political party," Mr McInturff said.
Relentlessly bad news from Iraq and voter fatigue after more than a decade of Republican control in Congress have contributed to the public mood but the scandal over former congressman Mark Foley's lewd messages to teenage boys may have been the final straw for many voters.
That scandal took a new twist yesterday when a Catholic priest admitted having a sexually inappropriate relationship with Mr Foley in the 1960s, when the former congressman was about 13. Fr Anthony Mercieca (72), said he massaged Mr Foley while the boy was naked and went nude bathing with him but he does not recall actually having sex with him.
When the scandal about the congressman's contacts with boys broke last month, Mr Foley's lawyer revealed that the former congressman had been abused by a Catholic priest when he was a boy.