Fifty percent of registered voters would prefer to vote for the Republican nominee for Congress in their district, compared with 43% who would rather vote for the Democratic nominee. That’s the strongest position yet recorded for the GOP in 2010, according to Gallup.

The news for Democrats gets worse when you factor in voter enthusiasm and turn-out projections. Independents and Republicans are far more enthusiastic than Democrats about turning out to vote in November. (Polls show Independents overwhelmingly breaking for Republicans this year.)

Continued bad employment data and depressed voters are likely to only worsen prospects for Democrats going into November, while Republicans will likely become more enthusiastic about the potential to take over one or both chambers of Congress.