In his column for National Journal, Charlie Cook paints a very daunting picture for the Democrats heading into the midterm. Midterms are referenda on the president and the economy. The economic recovery continues but so slowly that most Americans don’t feel it. President Obama’s approval rating is in the low 40s and unlikely to change. Cook ends with this:

There was a point when voters hit the mute button and stopped listening to George H.W. Bush and then to his son George W. Bush. We now seem to have reached that point with Obama. Voters have thrown up their hands and lost hope that things will get any better.