In a generic poll on next year's congressional elections conducted by Ipsos/McClatchy Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Democrats lead 48 percent to 41 percent, with 2 percent preferring another choice, 3 percent not planning to vote and 6 percent undecided.

That compares to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll that had 50 percent favoring the Democrats compared to 44 percent for the Republicans while Gallup put the Democratic advantage at 46 percent to 44 percent.

As far as the current Congress, 68 percent disapprove of the job it is doing while 29 percent disapprove. The feelings are strongest on the "strongly" disapprove side with 37 percent, up 9 percent from February.

Forty-nine percent oppose the health care reform proposals in Congress compared to 39 percent who favor them, a negative turn since the beginning of October, when opponents outnumbered supporters by only 42 percent to 40 percent. But 51 percent back a public option to compete with private insurers while 43 percent oppose it.

Fifty-seven percent think the country is headed in the wrong direction while 38 percent say it's on the right track. Fifty-nine percent say the economy has stabilized but not yet started to improve; 37 percent say the worst is yet to come; and 7 percent believe it has turned the corner.