'Angry electorate' could be unpredictable at polls this fall
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Midterm elections are generally seen as a referendum on the president and his party, particularly in the first term of a new administration. Halfway through this tumultuous year, it is clear there is more on the voters' minds than a judgment on President Obama.
The president's performance and agenda certainly are at the forefront of the voters' concerns as they look to November. His approval ratings speak to questions about his leadership, which have been reinforced by the administration's handling of the gulf oil spill. Triggered by his domestic agenda, concerns about the size and reach of government shape the political climate.
But that's hardly the end of what has given rise to the "angry electorate," the shorthand for the political mood. There is, more broadly, anger at Washington and at politics as usual. There's dissatisfaction with Congress and with incumbents of both parties.
There is also anger at Wall Street, big banks and big corporations. There is anger at corporate executives who reap big bonuses as the economy struggles to recover. Now there is anger at BP over the economic and environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
(More here.)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Midterm elections are generally seen as a referendum on the president and his party, particularly in the first term of a new administration. Halfway through this tumultuous year, it is clear there is more on the voters' minds than a judgment on President Obama.
The president's performance and agenda certainly are at the forefront of the voters' concerns as they look to November. His approval ratings speak to questions about his leadership, which have been reinforced by the administration's handling of the gulf oil spill. Triggered by his domestic agenda, concerns about the size and reach of government shape the political climate.
But that's hardly the end of what has given rise to the "angry electorate," the shorthand for the political mood. There is, more broadly, anger at Washington and at politics as usual. There's dissatisfaction with Congress and with incumbents of both parties.
There is also anger at Wall Street, big banks and big corporations. There is anger at corporate executives who reap big bonuses as the economy struggles to recover. Now there is anger at BP over the economic and environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
(More here.)
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