It is a well-documented perversity of American politics that even when people deeply disapprove of Congress as a whole, they generally approve of their local representatives. But in the upcoming midterm elections, voters have decided to hate the local yokels, too. Thirty-five percent of registered voters “say they do not want their own representative re-elected”, according to new numbers from Pew Research, “compared with 32% four years ago and 26% eight years ago”.

Why not just vote for the other gal/guy? The problem in multiple high-profile elections this year is that voters heartily disapprove of both proffered candidates. And yet somebody’s gotta win. In 2014, it’s throw the bums in. More on that in a moment. But first, it’s …

Today in numerology with your guest psychic Dr Bing

Hillary Clinton is getting a bunch of campaigning out of the way today – visiting no fewer than three states – perhaps to prepare for a quiet Sunday, when she will celebrate her 67th birthday. That makes today’s special number (see earlier; it’s a recurring feature) 67.

Clinton was the 67th secretary of state, a post she left with a 67% approval rating. She won 67.0% of the popular vote in New York when she was re-elected to the Senate in 2006. Last year the state of Arkansas performed a $67m renovation to the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, which lies just off Highway 67, which runs from Little Rock, the capital, to Hope, the birthplace of Bill Clinton, who famously dotes on his 1967 Mustang. Bill Clinton’s birthday isn’t until August. He will be 69. Which is how old Hillary Clinton will be on Tuesday, 8 November, 2016.

Here’s more on the state of the race:

My colleague Paul Lewis (@paullewis) has written a morning must-read on Latino voter-registration workers in Colorado who cannot vote themselves because of their immigration status. Here’s a snippet:

For the first time, many of these activists can be paid for their efforts because of their enrolment in a program created by the Obama administration that suspends deportations of young people who were brought to the US illegally as children, and gives them a permit to work. Mi Vota Familia, the largest Latino voter-registration organisation in the country, revealed that around 100 paid staff – roughly one in five of its employees – are enrolled in the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Deeply unloved and highly electable

In race after race in these midterms, both candidates have approval ratings that are, as they say, underwater, MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin has pointed out. Hagan-Tillis. McConnell-Grimes. Scott-Crist. Pryor-Cotton. Roberts-Orman. Quinn-Rauner.

Haven’t voters always hated politicians?

The races of 2014 are different for two reasons. One, the stink of incumbency is sharper. “Fully 68% of registered voters say they do not want to see most members of Congress re-elected,” Pew reports, “14 points higher than in 2010 and 19 points higher than in 2006.”

Two, unlike in the last two midterm elections, this year control of Congress is split between the two parties (apparently fewer than half of registered voters know this basic fact: currently, the GOP holds the House while Democrats hold the Senate). And so in past midterms it has been clear which party to hate. It’s the one that runs Congress. But “anti-incumbent sentiment now crosses party lines”, Pew finds. “Republican and Democratic voters are about equally likely to oppose the re-election of most representatives and their own member of Congress.”

What drives this discontent? Negative ads are part of it. A study published yesterday from the Center for Public Integrity, for example, found that television viewers in North Carolina last week “endured more than 10,800 US Senate election-focused TV ads … That’s more than one negative TV ad every minute from Tuesday, [14 October] to Monday [20 October].” Sheesh.

Popularity is overrated when it comes to winning Senate seats this year. http://t.co/sdXuoEJyab pic.twitter.com/e2HNhXanc2 — Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) October 23, 2014

Whither the Senate?

It’s still looking good for the GOP. The average probability of Republicans taking the Senate, according to three top elections modelers (538, the New York Times and HuffPost Pollster), is 63% – down two whole points from a day before. Two points!

It's crazy that the Dems look pretty gone in AR/LA/AK, endangered in IA/CO/NC, and yet still have any plausible path to cobble together 50 — Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) October 23, 2014

Kentucky now has the most interesting Senate race in the country – Washington Post

Voting Rights Callout

Have you ever had difficulty voting because you were told you could not, didn’t have the right ID, weren’t on the right list or couldn’t get to the polls? We want to hear from you for a report we’re working on about voter suppression. Please click here to share your story.

Miscellaneous

You may have seen that an Ebola case was confirmed in New York City. So what do the quants have to say about that?

.@johnekdahl Haha, better chance Sessions loses than catching ebola n NYC... — Harry Enten (@ForecasterEnten) October 24, 2014

The Washington Post has suspended its liquor license. Wait newspapers can have a *dials phone*

Trail running

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to campaign on behalf of gubernatorial candidates today in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. Bill Clinton is scheduled to campaign today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke (whose race against incumbent Scott Walker isn’t getting any looser).

You’ll recall that Elizabeth Warren beat Scott Brown handily in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race. On Saturday, she’s crossing state lines to try to do it again in a stump appearance for Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire.

If you love polls

New CNN/ORC Poll of likely voters in Georgia Senate race - Oct 19-22: Nunn 47% Perdue 44% Swafford 5% — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 24, 2014

New Hampshire Senate: Shaheen 49, Brown 46 – UMass Lowell/7 News

Massachusetts Governor: Baker 45, Coakley 36 – Boston Globe/SocialSphere

North Carolina Senate: Tillis 42, Hagan 41 – Civitas

New Hampshire Senate: Shaheen 48.3, Brown 46.7– CNN/Orc

New Hampshire Senate: Shaheen 49, Brown 48 – ARG

Iowa Senate: Earnst 48, Braley 46 – Quinnipiac

National House Race: Democrat 47, Republican 46 – Pew

Illinois Governor: Rauner 43, Quinn 41 – University of Illinois Springfield

Michigan Senate: Peters 48, Land 33 – Clarity Campaigns

Kansas Senate: Orman 49, Roberts 44 – Rasmussen Reports

Georgia Senate: Nunn 47, Perdue 45 – InsiderAdvantage/Fox 5 Atlanta/Morris News Service

Is your daily consumption of political news harming your ability to love your country? Look at what this amazing acorn woodpecker did in California. Can woodpeckers in other countries do that?