Voter Volatility Reaches Historic Highs During Election 'Year Of Fear'

The Wall Street Journal:

It's becoming increasingly clear that Americans aren't simply in the midst of hard times. They are in the midst of one of the most volatile political environments since World War II.

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal

Comments

[bongoboy]

01:30 AM on 08/16/2010

more like the year of extreme racism

[DannyDanson]

09:42 AM on 08/15/2010

What if in the wake of President Obama's election disgruntled and shell shocked McCain/ Palin voters scared into disillusionment by a intense campaign narrative coordinated by the right based on fear-mongering and the indirect misrepresentation of then candidate Obama at every opportunity, simply led to a majority of those same voters and eventually a few more Republican calling themselves "independents" forming Tea-party groups to continue their campaign against what they had been convinced was a danger to America in political expediency absent any actual governing agenda which differed from President Bush's.

A lot of fear, anger and political opportunism created what the media has happily presented as a "made for T.V." Reality show.

Pointless political opiate for the unlearned masses, absent any governing philosophy besides talking points which do not take into account how the current situation came about, if the tea-party gets an opportunity to govern, then this will really get interesting. They speak of accountability but when given a year (like President Obama was given) to turn around 30 years of failed policy which looks ironically similar to what the tea-party now advocates in historic ignorance, will they hold themselves accountable when government grinds to a halt, and American families continue suffering as their policies enrich the rich, and their self-righteous principles starve families, in the name of fiscal responsibility. I imagine they won't I imagine they will continue to go to church claim to be god fearing people.

[Edward Standley]

09:35 AM on 08/15/2010

Without lobbying reform and public financing of elections, we will never be "on the right track" in this country. Until then, our elected "officials", both Democrat and Republican, will remain right where they are. In the corporation's pockets.

[JBoy]

05:23 AM on 08/15/2010

Politics is like a pendulum...it has swung to the left, and now it's swinging back to the right.


It's a natural phenomenon, really. Kinda like tug-of -war, with a constant exchange of ideas.

I'm truly sorry if I've upset anyone with my posts (except for those who've unjustly attacked me first), but it's honestly stimulating to debate different ideas even if we don't agree.

[mixpiklix]

12:09 AM on 08/15/2010

no we are not in a voltile political enviroment. the problem isa large section of our population gets it's news and views from news corp.And news corp as in fox fake news is steering Americans in the direction news corp wants them to.. you have followers and leaders and fox watchers are followers, not because they are dumb but because fox feeds their fears. And have a say anything crew to convince folks to get involved in foxes causes. I hope people see what murdock is trying to do and turn on him and tell him this is our country not his and the saudi's.

[JBoy]

05:12 AM on 08/15/2010

You may not realize this, but Americans have a choice of where to get their news. Nobody forces them to watch Fox news, and I doubt there are very many who just stumble upon it. The fact is that a large segment of the population trusts Fox news more than other news sources, and their strong ratings are testament to that. You may not agree, but bias can be seen in every newsroom...including Huffington Post.

[mixpiklix]

08:33 AM on 08/15/2010

I agree with you to a point, when was the last time you watched other news channels very rarely do other networks tell the same thing as fox the same way.Roger Ailes said on tv we are not a news org. facts are not our problem we want ratings Is that trust, people do not want a mosque build in newyork because they are all muslim terrorists and yet you are so devout to fox you overlook it's saudi arabian owner /partner. Why would anyone trust an outfit like that

[Mortimer2]

07:46 PM on 08/14/2010

HELP! HELP! The Kenyans are coming.

[dawgspiel]

04:43 PM on 08/14/2010

"In the political realm, there's no doubt that this environment will produce significant victories for Republicans in November's congressional elections."

Will it? There is no doubt?

In all this teabagger stuff, has anyone asked: Whom did these people vote for before they bought out local costume shops? I seriously doubt that they ever checked off the name with a (D) after it. Polls conducted by the NYT and others demonstrate that the vast majority of tea partiers are Republicans, have always been Republicans, and almost certainly have voted Republican/Libertarian in past elections. That they're upset this time is going to make a huge difference?

Standard bearers Rand Paul and Sharron Angle are in trouble in traditionally conservative states. Harry Reid may be as popular as concession prices at a ballpark in Nevada these days, but Angle's radicalism is turning off voters even more. In Kentucky, Paul can't get his foot of his mouth long enough to eat a decent meal.

What we are seeing is a typical midterm election with more noise. How it turns out will depend on how many Democrats turn out at the polls. Everything else is just a bunch of noise.

What we are really seeing is the death of Reaganism. Trickle down and the Laffer Curve have been proven false. Conservatives/neocons cling to it now just as 2nd generation New Dealers clung to that philosophy after it had gone too far and stifled the economy.

This noise too shall pass.

[popart]

03:18 PM on 08/14/2010

just as i always thought...americans are revolting

[CrankyCurmudgeon]

06:27 PM on 08/14/2010

And pretty darn disgustin' as well.

[Unrepentantliberal]

03:05 PM on 08/14/2010

Having a Black Democrat is the White House sure has caused a few people to lose their ever loving minds.......

Whatever it is it's alway ok as long as republicans are doing it.

[Forester]

06:44 PM on 08/14/2010

I disagree. If we had McCain and Palin in there right now, revolution - or at least major civil unrest - would be a very likely possibility.

[Kiri sute gomen]

01:12 AM on 08/15/2010

Yes, but the signs would have correct spelling on them.

[TRex86]

03:03 PM on 08/14/2010

To those who say the country is heading in the wrong direction I have an observation and a question. First, we're heading in no direction. Our domestic economy is a shambles while we're tromping around the world playing nation-builder. Secondly, Where do YOU want the country headed? Republicans jeered at Jimmy Carter's "malaise" moment (which he didn't say). Now--with one party bent on obstructing any positive legislation and the other unfocused, diffident and disorganized--we've got malaise to the power of alienation. This is the time to put forth a clearly articulated agenda for change. Only spare me the vapid slogans about the "founding fathers," deficits, death taxes, family values, et. al.

May I make some suggestions?
1. End our neo-imperialistic adventurism, and cut the defense budget by fifty percent. Let our allies carry a heavier burden of policing the planet.
2. Pump big bucks into Keynesian job creation. Green jobs. Start restoring our infrastructure after 30 years of neglect. Get serious about re-engineering our industrial base so that we become a net exporter--and don't choke to death on pollution.
3. Seriously address climate change.
4. Guarantee adequate health care and retirement income for ALL Americans.
5. Redo the tax codes, making them progressive (highest income pays highest rate) and eliminating the tax preferences and loopholes that make the rich richer. (Give corporate America a break. No taxes. Retained earnings must be reinvested or paid as TAXABLE dividends).
In short, restore social and economic justice.

[iconoclast6]

03:17 PM on 08/14/2010

F + F, T-Rex...here's hoping that the Social Darwinism of the 80s becomes "extinct!"

[TRex86]

03:23 PM on 08/14/2010

Isn't it ironic how a third of Republican pols deny the existence of evolution yet Spenser's corruption of Darwinism to justify social injustice remains a the credo of the right?

[dawgspiel]

04:46 PM on 08/14/2010

Great ideas. There are some ideas for replacing corporate taxes with some kind of VAT to spur exports and encourage domestic production. I think those should be explored as well.

[AyeChart]

02:47 PM on 08/14/2010

Indeed, the voters are angry.

I recall the scene from "TAKEN" where Liam Neeson captures the head of the gang that kidnapped his daughter, ties him to a chair, hooks him to the electric switch, and, after getting the info he needs, throws the switch and walks away without looking back. The terrorist is jerking and screaming in the chair as the electricity courses through him.

I think the voters are going to the voting booths, throwing the switch, and they'll walk away without looking back, as an awful lot of Democrats scream and twitch. And maybe a few RINOs, too. November is coming fast!

[Unrepentantliberal]

03:07 PM on 08/14/2010

What will you do when the revolution sputters and falls flat on it's face come November?

[iconoclast6]

03:18 PM on 08/14/2010

Are you saying that when your kind take power, you're going to enact similar retribution on those who disagree, or want a different kind of America?

I think the m0ds should take down your IP address for possible review by Homeland.

[bluntobject]

02:28 PM on 08/14/2010

Revolution is Brewing? Yes, in the fetted living rooms of white trash trailer parks everywhere.

[AyeChart]

02:48 PM on 08/14/2010

Arrogant elitism is going to help cook your goose.

[Unrepentantliberal]

03:08 PM on 08/14/2010

If you think the republicans are actually going to do anything to help you or this wonderful country if they get elected, I fear your are mistaken.

[iconoclast6]

03:19 PM on 08/14/2010

Big manly talk from a keyboard cοm mando.

[Firbolg]

01:54 PM on 08/14/2010

Here’s the position as I see it.
Our political system has evolved or, if you prefer, been intelligently designed, to work against the people and for business.
The sector of the business it supports is primarily multi-nationals with small indigenous business a very poor second.
The theory is that this is the best way to help the people – all of them. Results to date refute this but multi-nationals have now such a grip on governments everywhere that it will take a sea-change to alter things. This has been proven by the widespread allure for the “yes we can” and “hope and change” messages of the recent campaign and their subsequent abject failure.
Voters have a number of choices.
Continue to vote tribally for existing office holders. This is the default.
Tribal voting for “different” candidates from preferred tribe. Tea Party and DFA option.
Abstention. Now chosen by a significant minority.
Swing voting. Voting to change the party in power in EVERY election until one of them catches on that looking after real flesh-and-blood America people is their first priority and then supporting that party until it again, inevitably, fails to deliver.
Take your pick.

[AyeChart]

02:49 PM on 08/14/2010

You have set up a false dichotomy. One cannot be "for the people" without being 'for business" also. Where do you think jobs come from?

That's the primary error of Marxism, by the way.

[Unrepentantliberal]

03:12 PM on 08/14/2010

Both parties but particullary republicans have been 'for business' since Ronnie Ray-gun was President and all I see around us is a mess with no jobs.

Business is doing fine. They don't need the American people anymore. They can do everything they need to do overseas in sweat shops and we pay the tab.

Business and capitalism is great but it doesn't have a moral compass and right now business in America is dedicated to sticking it to Americans for maximum profit.

[Firbolg]

03:34 PM on 08/14/2010

I agree – sort of.
Business is a resource that the state should make sure effectively serves the people. Not the other way around, as we have morphed into now.
We have reached a stage that is somewhat feudal where people only have worth when the serve business for the ultimate benefit of a small elite.
And I think you are wrong to equate this with Marxism where the state, not its people, is primary.

[dawgspiel]

04:55 PM on 08/14/2010

I used to work for a huge multinational, one of the first to go "global" long before it was accepted practice. It didn't make anything that consequential, but was and still is hugely successful in the global market.

My job entailed working with senior management to stage meetings. They held a seminar for the top management in Palm Beach back in 1994. The invitation list was the top 50 managers in a huge enterprise.

To open the discussion, the chairman, who now has a university business school named after him, posed this question: We have always considered ourselves an American company. But now, we've reached the point where most of our business is outside the United States. Are we still an American company, or are we a global enterprise that just happens to be headquartered in America?

Right then, I knew that this nation was headed for trouble. This particularly outfit prospered in the first place because it was American. It took advantage of the economic climate and freedoms afforded. The chairman was a political refugee from Cuba who had made politics and risen through the ranks.

And here he was blowing off the country that had nurtured his enterprise for 100 years. We're too big, don't need them any more.

Poor attitude, and indicative of much of what is wrong with "big business" thinking these days.

[Firbolg]

05:51 PM on 08/14/2010

I don’t have a problem with multi-national business as such. The purpose of most corporations and other business entities is to concentrate on growing their net worth. All good and necessary.
The problem is that people are raised to be nationalistic and patriotic and some even altruistic. Our present governmental systems, skewed towards business, exploit this for the advantage of multi-national business by corralling people in states and then setting them against one another.
Global corporations then expertly utilize regional differences to “buy and make cheap and sell expensive”, to minimize or eliminate taxation and to avoid accountability. Vast sums are spent to militarize each state so that wars can be arranged regularly to make sure we don’t all get together to oppose them.
Although corporations are “legal persons” they have no morals or loyalties and those who aspire to control and/or benefit from global corporations must suppress or extinguish these human attributes so that the organizations they serve can prosper. You only have to look at the track record of any CEO or politician from any industrialized country to understand this.
Healthcare in the US and financial reform debates (debacles) worldwide are classic case histories of these forces at work right under our noses.
Until we have a WPO (World People Organization) to counter the WTO it’s not going to change within each state.

[mariusvinchi]

10:42 AM on 08/14/2010

The Obama Administration needs to take advantage of this "voter volatility" before the GOP takes the lead. Obama was elected on the premise of positive change. Change that hasn't materialized in any meaningful way. Obama needs to galvanize Congress to ACT as a single cohesive group to achieve those things he promised. Bring our troops home, end DADT, stabilize the economy and create jobs. More than anything, the Administration and the Democrat controlled Congress need to show the country that they are strong enough to lead as one unit. Blue dogs need a "come to Jesus" moment and put their petty self interests aside and do what's right!

[nypapajoe]

09:50 AM on 08/14/2010

The republicans as puppets of the rich have stolen our homes, sent our jobs over seas, corporations obtain work visas to hire professionals from other countries at half pay, rob us out of our life savings, raised the cost of health insurance and stole our taxes to pay off those corporate CEOs huge bonuses that lost their investments on wall st! Vote those corrupt politicians out of office before they sell the rest of the country to foreign investors!

[ShellyintheWest]

01:17 PM on 08/14/2010

I'm trembling....the republicans? Who would have thought. There is no boogy man. Corruption is everywhere.