FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's not like the Democrats don't have enough problems headed into the midterm elections.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/09/15/art.poverty.jpg caption="A couple applies for food stamps after being evicted from their home following job loss. They then moved into a motel with their three children."]
Now comes word that the number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Obama's watch.
It's not necessarily President Obama or the Democrats' fault, and is likely the product of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But some political damage will likely accrue to the Democrats anyway.
Census figures for 2009 are out soon, and it's expected the poverty rate will have increased from 13.2 percent to 15 percent of our population. That translates to 45 million people - or one in every seven - being poor.
It would be the highest increase in poverty since the government began keeping records in 1959.
Among working people aged 18 to 64, poverty is expected to have increased from 11.7 percent to 12.4 percent.
That would be the highest since 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson launched the war on poverty, which greatly expanded the federal government's role in social welfare programs from education to health care.
Here’s my question to you: How will record levels of poverty in the U.S. impact the midterm elections?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 6pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.