Why The Democratic Wave Could Be A Washout

American voters have been in a bad mood lately. They don't think highly of the President's performance. They aren't crazy about the war. They certainly don't like the G.O.P.-led Congress--a New York Times poll last week put its approval rating at just 25%. And while disapproval of Congress as a whole isn't rare, polls are finding that more and more voters are dissatisfied with their own lawmakers--a more telling phenomenon. The Democrats hope that come Election Day, this perfect storm of discontent will stir a giant wave to sweep the G.O.P. out of the majority. In a recent presentation to top Democrats, pollster Cornell Belcher said the party has its best chance since the Reagan era to win slices of the electorate that have come to be identified with the G.O.P. base, including churchgoers, young white men and Southern men. Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, sees conditions ripe for an electoral tsunami but says it depends on "whether Democrats can take advantage of it."