United States: Gallup Poll Shows Republicans Favored in Congressional Elections.

Section: General News - A new Gallup Poll public opinion survey indicates that American voters now prefer Republican candidates over Democratic candidates on a generic ballot by 49 to 43 percent for congressional elections in November. The trends reflected in the poll could mean a rough time at the polls in November for U.S. President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party.

Gallup's daily tracking poll has shown Republicans with a slight lead on generic ballots for the November congressional races for several weeks, but Republicans have now expanded it to the largest lead of this campaign season. The shift to a larger lead for Republicans happened the same week that President Barack Obama's approval rating dropped slightly to 46 percent in the Gallup poll, his lowest weekly average to date.

Frank Newport is the editor-in-chief of the respected Gallup Poll: 'In general, I think the data simply reinforce …