It is widely believed that President Bush's unpopularity is the driving reason for Republican weakness in recent surveys measuring the public's preference for the next Congress, but polling released this morning by Newsweek seems to undercut that notion.

The Newsweek survey finds President Bush's approval rating to be just 36 percent, with 58 percent disapproving, but believe it or not Congressional Republicans actually fare worse. On the question of which party the public would rather see win control of Congress in November, the public favors Democrats over Republicans by a 50 percent to 34 percent margin. Yes, Congressional Republicans are two points below President Bush. Among independent voters, the margin favoring Democratic control of Congress is even larger -- 51 percent to 22 percent. True, the Democrats hold a narrower 50 percent to 39 percent lead on the question of which party registered voters would actually cast a vote for this November; nevertheless, the fact that voters' general preference for a Democratic Congress appears to be parlaying into a lead in an actual head-to-head contest indicates that voters not only desire change, they are willing to use their votes to accomplish it.