Approval of the Republican-led Congress at its lowest point in 14 years, according to the latest NBC News/ Wall Street Journalpoll.
With US congressional elections less than three weeks away, some 47 per cent of respondents said they were less in favour of keeping Republicans in control of Congress, compared to 14 per cent who were more in favour of maintaining the current congressional makeup, according to the poll.
Only 16 per cent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest level since 1992, NBC said.
In October 1994, when Democrats held congressional majorities, Congress had a 24 per cent job approval, NBC said. Democrats lost 52 House and eight Senate seats in the 1994 mid-term elections.
NBC said the poll indicates people have been paying attention to the issues such as Iraq; a book by one of the journalists that uncovered the Watergate scandal criticising the handling of the war in Iraq; and the scandal over former Florida Representative's Mark Foley's lewd e-mails to teenage congressional aides.
The poll numbers and President Bush's own job approval ratings, which have been mired in the 30 per cent range, are an ominous sign for a party trying to maintain control of Congress, NBC said.
Mr Bush had a job approval rating of 38 per cent, down 1 point from earlier this month after the Foley news first broke.
Asked who they planned to vote for in the congressional election, 37 per cent of those polled said Republicans and 52 per cent said Democrats.
The 15 per cent difference was the highest disparity ever in the poll and up from a 9-point difference a month ago, NBC said.