AP called it a "funk." The Pew Research Center describes the mood of the nation as "glum" in its new survey (2,000 Americans, 10/28-11/8, +/- 3%), which offers a significant warning for incumbents in both parties in the 2010 midterms.

Asked if respondents want to see their representative re-elected in 2010, only 52 percent said yes and 29 percent said no. For comparison sake, 55 percent said yes just before the 2006 midterms when Democrats recaptured both chambers; it was 58 percent just before the 2002 midterms that saw Republicans score rare gains in a new president's first term; and it was 49 percent in October 1994, just before the Republican Revolution the following month.

In another generic ballot test Pew finds Democrats still ahead, 47-42. But those who say they plan to vote GOP are more enthusiastic than Dem backers. Sixty-four percent of Democrats say they want their Representative re-elected, compared to 50 percent of Republicans and just 42 percent of independents.

On Afghanistan, Pew finds that 57 percent of Americans say the war is not going well, up from 45 percent in January. Asked about how President Obama should proceed, 32 percent want to see an increase in troop levels, 40 percent want them decreased, and 19 percent prefer the status quo. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to support an increase in forces -- 48 percent to 21 percent.

Obama's job approval rating is now at 51 percent, down from 52 in the last survey.