Democrats braced for election mauling

US President Barack Obama’s Democrats are braced for an elections rout today, as a wave of 11th-hour polls showed Republicans on course for big gains in Congress amid deep voter anger at the sour economy.

Obama, fearing a ballot-box repudiation just two years into his campaign for change, planned a wave of radio interviews and telephone calls to Democratic volunteers key to boosting party turnout today, the White House said.

Feeding Democratic worries, the respected Gallup polling organisation’s final pre-vote survey of likely voters nationwide found Republicans held the most commanding mid-term lead either US party has held in a generation.