The latest George Washington University Battleground 2008 poll underlines what other recent national polls have had to say: that the country is headed into the general election in an increasingly negative mood and, when you look at voter preferences generically as opposed to support for specific candidates, they favor the Democrats. The survey was conducted May 11-14 and has a 3.1 percent margin of error.

Slightly more than three-quarters of voters said the country was on the wrong track, a finding similar to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted May 8-11 which put that number at 8 out of 10. Democrats have a generic lead in the presidential race, 49 percent to 41 percent, and 49 percent to 40 percent on the congressional level. A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted April 30-May 8 tested a number of top issues and found greater trust of the Democrats compared to Republicans. But a majority of both Democrats (57 percent) and Republicans (68 percent) disapprove of the jobs Congress is doing. And that tallies with a mid-May survey by Rasmussen that found approval ratings of Congress scraping bottom.

DJ Drummond at WizbangPOLITICS has a good post about how generic support for a party does not necessarily translate into support for its candidates.