A new CNN poll has President Obama’s approval rating at just 42 percent — an all time low in CNN polling — and 56 percent of Americans say the president has “fallen short of their expectations.” This spells bad news for Democratic candidates (emphasis added):

The president’s sagging poll numbers couldn’t come at a worse time for congressional Democrats, themselves facing a nine-point deficit in the so-called “generic ballot” question heading into the midterm elections. In fact, the president’s approval rating is the same as that of President Clinton’s in 1994 – the midterm election year that saw Republicans wrest control of both the House and Senate.

And not surprisingly, pretty good news for the Tea Party (emphasis added):

In even worse news for congressional Democrats, likely voters say they are considerably more likely to vote for a candidate the president opposes than one he supports. On the other hand, 50 percent of voters said they would be more likely to vote for a Tea Party-backed candidate while a third of Americans said Tea Party support would dissuade their vote for a candidate.