Democrats and the president are in a difficult political spot, getting blamed for a sagging economy that they have little power to improve without control of Congress. But it is also a problem partly of their own making. As early as May 2010, more than six months before Democrats lost control of Congress for the rest of Obama's term, the party turned its focus away from jobs and stimulus and toward deficit reduction and belt tightening. The resulting fiscal pullback slowed the economic recovery and contributed to anger at Washington, which typically gets directed at the party that controls the White House. While pundits spent the last six years warning that voters cared first and foremost about the deficit, the news that it has plummeted under Obama was nevertheless met with a rebuke from voters.Think the Democrats will learn from this? Nah. Clueless morons. In fact, the Democrats by and large are more likely to lurch to the right, thinking that that's where the votes are.
The Huffington Post
Voters Driven By Anger At Economy Reward Republicans At Polls
Ryan Grim
2 comments:
Be careful what you wish for, voters. Republican? Stewards of a good, equitable economy? I want to see that.
From what I can see, the election was decided by voter intensity. The GOP fired up its base, and the Democrats turned their base off. The poor economy and lagging recovery from most pushed the independent swing vote into a protest vote against the president's party.
I would not say that the GOP won this election as much as the Democrats lost it. Judging from the polls the public doesn't trust the GOP leadership anymore than the Democratic leadership. Both parties are out of step, and the public is not being presented with a viable alternative in elections.
This is bad for national morale and the functioning of democracy. In fact, I would say it is an unsustainable course in the long run. There's a lot of frustration building.
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