Americans' growing boredom with the 2014 midterms, in one chart

Normally, you'd expect people to grow more interested in elections as they draw nearer: the media starts covering them more, ads become more frequent, voters have to start thinking about their choices if they're undecided, and so forth. But 2014 is not most elections. Even for a midterm election, people aren't paying a lot of attention.

The stakes are real. This year's Senate results will likely determine the size and importance of Senate majorities in 2016 and 2018 and onward. A Republican Senate would make President Obama's judicial and executive nominees tougher to push through. And a number of key governorships are up for grabs.

But according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, Americans are actually losing interest as the race progresses:

(WSJ/NBC)

If, unlike many poll respondents, you actually do care about the race, be sure to check out Andrew Prokop's latest review of what the forecasting models are predicting (spoiler: looks like Republicans are going to take the Senate). If you're more of a visual learner, Ezra Klein, Joe Posner, and Joss Fong whipped up a great 8-bit themed explanation of the race:

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