Obviously, lots of bad news in the national polls for Republicans these days. Bush's job approval stands at a paltry 41.3% in our latest RCP Average. Congress' job approval is an even more dismal 29.8%.  Less than 3 in 10 Americans feel the country is headed in the right direction, and Democrats lead Republicans by more than 7 points in the generic Congressional vote.

Even worse than the topline numbers, however, are the results from some of the internals. Here's one in particular that should send chills down the spine of the GOP leadership in Washington: in the new Battleground Poll Democrats had a 14-point advantage over Republicans (49-35) when respondents were asked which party would do a better job holding down federal spending. A related question found that 72% of people favored "removing items from the recent highway bill that are not directly related to road construction."

Similar stuff from today's Gallup poll. Dems led Republicans by 6 and 8 points respectively on the issue of handling Iraq and, if you can possibly believe it, on taxes. That may be a first. 

At this point, the only issue where Republicans still maintain a big lead over Democrats in the polls is fighting terrorism. That's a biggie, of course, but probably not enough by itself to maintain a majority if the GOP continues to lose ground to Democrats on key domestic issues like taxing and spending.