Reboot Alberta

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

America in an Ugly Midterm Election Mood

Rasmussen Reports polling results show just how confused, volatile and divided the American voter is these days.  The impact of the anger, angst and fear felt by many Americans will affect the Midterm elections.  Just how this will play out in the Midterms shall be known later today.

Tracking 10 key issues in a poll shows the divisions amongst Americans. The Republicans are more trusted than Democrats in 8 of them, including the top two issues of most concern, the Economy (Republicans 49% Democrats 39%) and Health Care (Republicans 47% Democrats 40%).  The Democrats are more trusted on Education and Government Ethics…go figure given Bush’s record on both.   

To see how volatile the American public is the same 10 tracking issues saw voters trusting the Republicans on all of them last August but two years ago when Obama was elected the Democrats were leading in public trust on all 10 issues.

In another more recent Rasmussen Reports poll shows how they are confused 49% of American blame the Bush administration for the economic problems that lead to the recession while 44% blame Obama.  Furthermore 59% of US voters trust their own judgment more than Obama’s on the major economic issues facing the nation…and it has been that way since June.

It is pretty ugly in American politics these days not to mention economically, environmentally and increasingly – socially.  The rise of the Tea Party has been given enormous media coverage because it fits the conflict as normative in their measure of what is “news.”  The anger and fear is being fed by Fox News fanatics and none of the right-sided pundits and political sources are offering solutions - just loud, angry and misleading opposition.  None of that will solve the problems - only make them worse. 


The Edmonton Sun Editorial today likens these Tea Party days to the early times of the Preston Manning Reform Party that started as a grumpy voter movement.  John Doyle of the Globe and Mail says this Tea Party mentality has not yet come to Canada but it will.  I don't know if either narrative about a radical right wing-nut political reality of Tea Party vitriol is good for America or Canada going forward.  Stay tuned...especially to the election results tonight.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org/rsvp
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1 comment:

  1. Graham Fletcher12:20 am

    The blue and grey haired women and men of the Tea Party would find your fear and hate of them bemusing and misguided, as indeed it is. But you won't find them intimating voters at the polls the way Obama's Black Panther guys will.

    Dumping on Tea Party members is like dumping on your mother and your father as radical extreme wing-nuts - an absurd and ridiculous assertion. Unless of course being alarmed at the lack of jobs, further emptying the nation's treasury, and growing Government payrolls as the private sector sinks is "radical right wing-niut vitriol".

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