So sayeth the NY Times/CBS poll. And this is not going to help John McCain win an election (nor help John Boehner keep his job... who wants to be a Republican? The answer is no one).

Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll... The dissatisfaction is especially striking because public opinion usually hits its low point only in the months and years after an economic downturn, not at the beginning of one. Today, however, Americans report being deeply worried about the country even though many say their own personal finances are still in fairly good shape.

Ouch. Maybe it's because no one can stand George W. Bush, and everyone realizes he's ruined the Republican brand.

The unhappiness presents clear risks for Republicans in this year’s elections, given the continued unpopularity of President Bush. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they approved of the job he was doing, a number that has barely changed since last summer. But Democrats, who have controlled the House and Senate since last year, also face the risk that unhappy voters will punish Congressional incumbents.

Oooh, I love that fair and balanced analysis. By the way, it's the exact same tripe (Democrats will pay for Republican failures) that the media was pushing just before the Democrats unexpectedly retook Congress in 2006. That's hogwash, probably stuck in by an editor looking over his or her shoulder. Republican self-identification is down, Democratic primary votes are up, people vote the economy, and

The poll found that Americans blame government officials for the crisis more than banks or home buyers and other borrowers. Forty percent of respondents said regulators were mostly to blame, while 28 percent named lenders and 14 percent named borrowers. In assessing possible responses to the mortgage crisis, Americans displayed a populist streak, favoring help for individuals but not for financial institutions. A clear majority said they did not want the government to lend a hand to banks, even if the measures would help limit the depth of a recession.

John McMoreofsame, economics reformer in a change election? I think not.

A majority of nearly every demographic and political group — Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school — say the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.

Blather on, cable TV, about the horse race. Americans are paying attention to the shape our country is in, and they will not ignore which party was in the White House steering us there.