At the Washington Post, Jason Horowitz is calling this the "Autumn of Democratic Discontent."

Republicans lead across the board, by as many as nine points in yesterday's Rasmussen poll.

An Associated Press-Gfk Poll showed that as many as a third of voters haven't made up their minds, yet 45 percent of them favor the Republican candidate.

"Based on opinion polls and the private assessments of strategists in both parties, it appears Republicans have effectively secured about two dozen of the 40 seats they need to win control of the House." (AP)

Politico is calling this swing among independent voters one of the most important developments in American politics over the past two years, along with the Tea Party movement - which also isn't doing the Democratic Party any favors.

Horowitz says it could be that President Obama's "Washington is broken" message doesn't give long-time incumbents like Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) a fighting chance.

But why are people so ready to get the Dems on the first train out of D.C.? It could be something called the "action bias," writes author Shankar Vedantam in Slate. When people are unhappy with something - the economy, a marriage, a traffic jam - the urge to change something dramatically is irresistable. That's why we switch lanes like mad on the 405 at rush hour, and it's also why many won't vote for a Democrat, even if the alternative is a tea-bagging looney toon.