Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Wind of Change is Blowing

Change is coming (where have we heard that before?)and it’s apparently not the tea party. A lot of people are becoming less and less happy with the tea party and the controversial candidates it runs. A Washington Post – ABC poll says voters are now beginning to see the tea party as another thing not to like about politics.

Candidates that identified with the tea party won in Nevada, South Carolina, Maine, and Georgia. But three tea party candidates lost in Virginia.

Newcomers to politics were popular this week, winning races from coast-to-coast.

And voters in exit polls are saying partisanship and gridlock are among the main reasons they despise Washington. Only 22% of Americans now say they trust the government, and that’s as low as it’s been in the last half century, according to Pew Research. The President’s job approval rating has stabilized at around 50%.

But perhaps the most telling statistic in the new Washington Post – ABC poll is that less than a third of Americans say they’re inclined to vote for their House representative in November. That’s even lower than the levels of support in 1994, when Democrats lost control of the House after four decades of being in charge.

Four big-name incumbents have already lost their seats this spring: Senators Bob Bennett of Utah and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Representatives Alan Mollohan of West Virginia and Parker Griffith of Alabama.

Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas defied the anti-incumbent wave by saying her opponent was backed by “outsiders” trying to “buy their votes.” Bill Clinton, whose name is still golden in Arkansas, stumped for Lincoln. It sounds crazy, but it worked: an incumbent positioned her opposition as a “Washington establishment” candidate.

While results were mixed and incumbents got battered in some states and won in others, the only thing the tea leaves seem to be clearly saying is that the voters are demanding change.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, who holds a seat in Congress, is safe. It’s a powerful wind that’s blowing.

Tomorrow: who’s picking the people who run for political office?

5 comments:

  1. less than a third of Americans say they’re inclined to vote for their House representative in November.

    That would seem to affirm my anecdotals that people want to throw out the whole damn bunch, no exceptions.

    As to the NV 'Tea Party' victory: since WaPo is running Reid propaganda, it's also important to know that the TeaParty is joined by Concerned Women for America, the Susan B Anthony List, and (I expect) will be endorsed by NRTL. (I have no idea about NRA's position here.)

    Angle is NOT a wacko.

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  2. Good grief: "An enthusiastic, almost gleeful extremist, Angle supports dismantling the Social Security system, abolishing the federal income tax, and shuttering the Departments of Education and Energy. She has spoken in support of alcohol prohibition and has even proposed prison reform ideas propagated by the Church of Scientology. And she's had trouble at the polls before. Yes, she won three terms in the Nevada Assembly -- where she was repeatedly voted the state’s worst legislator by the Las Vegas Review-Journal." From Salon.

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  3. Ha! Dad29, you've done it again. Moved me to guffaws, you did. Sharron Angle's photo could usefully appear alongside the definition of the word Wacko. If not, then what's a dictionary for?

    Imagine Las Vegas without bars. That idea ought to play well to her constituency. Also, she thinks it's unacceptable for both parents to have jobs. That notion hasn't worked since Ward and June Cleaver went away. I'd love to ramble on about her other remarkable ideas, such as perpetuating the myth (actually it's a calculated lie) purporting a link between abortion and breast cancer ... but anyone who's interested in that stuff can find it easily enough.

    Sharron "I vote no" Angle is so far out there that she makes political rival Sue Lowden's barter-chicken approach to fixing health care seem sane.

    I feel a bit guilty about having such a good chuckle over your comment, but Ms. Angle's enduring gift to democracy will likely be her selfless effort to preserve Harry Reid.

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  4. George H.,

    >> "...Yes, she won three terms in the Nevada Assembly -- where she was repeatedly voted the state’s worst legislator by the Las Vegas Review-Journal." From Salon. <<

    One person's "worst" is another person's "best". I'd guess that she must have some electoral moxie if she was re-elected a couple of times.

    What constitutes "worst" in the eyes of the LRR-J?

    The Town Crank

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  5. >> A lot of people are becoming less and less happy with the tea party and the controversial candidates it runs. <<

    I presume that "controversial" means that lots of folks find her ideas anathema and wouldn't vote for her in a million years? Sounds like your garden variety Democrat or Republican to me...

    The Town Crank

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