Two emotions are shaping the 2010 election.
In 2008, as America was sliding into the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression, President Barack Obama convinced voters that the compelling emotion of the campaign should be hope.
But reading conservative and liberal journals over the last couple of weeks, I’m convinced that two very different emotions will shape the outcome of 2010’s mid-terms: anger and impatience.
Anger is pushing the Republican narrative, and it’s been a double-edged sword.
Tea party fury is energizing the GOP base, but it has also catapulted some long-shot candidates into prominence, likely scotching some easy wins.
The Republican establishment is nervous — a lot of their favored candidates have already been toppled — and there is a risk that average voters could be turned off by the revolutionary rhetoric.
On the other end of the political spectrum we find a viral level of impatience, exemplified by Velma Hart’s scolding of Pres. Obama at a public forum broadcast by CNBC this week.
She described herself as “exhausted” with defending Obama and said her faith in his policies was waning. “And I’m waiting, sir, I’m waiting.”
Franklin Roosevelt’s base stuck with him for more than half a decade during the Depression, despite far more crushing economic conditions.
But less than two years into his first term, Pres. Obama has failed to craft a narrative that satisfies the tens of millions of people who lifted him to power.
If enough members of the Democrats’ liberal base — particularly African Americans — agree with Hart and decide to sit this one out, 2010 will be a landslide.
Tags: election10
We seem to have reached a point in America where we expect everything and we want it NOW! Today’s young people expect to graduate from college and earn immediately what I earned after 30 years of work. They expect to buy $200-300K homes, have 2 cars in the garage and a a flat panel TV in every room, not to mention computers, boats, ATVs, you name it. It was trying to fulfill that expectation that got us into the financial mess and it is that expectation that is driving impatience with the recovery. We need somehow to change the mindset of our culture, to restore realistic expectations and the patience to stick things out when they don’t happen as quickly as we’d like. I’m not sure what it would take to do that though. Obama is trying reason but we don’t seem to be a reasonable nation any more and the Republicans are playing to that.
I agree, James…..We want it all and we want in now.
James is right, but its not just the young people or the progressives. There is a real sense of entitlement that cuts across class and political persuasion. Our fiscal problems do not have ready solutions, if any at all. Obama is one of the few grown ups in our politics and I value his steadiness and calm. Where I do fault him and our other “leaders” is not preparing the public for scarce and expensive fossil fuels. This is about geology and geopolitics. If we are seeing people and politics coming unhinged now I worry if we end up with a second crisis. As a people we need to show more character than we have these past few years.
Ironically, the North Country has seemed somewhat insulated from most of the craziness. Maybe people are used to having less and have lower expectations. Our housing values have not cratered and people still tend to watch out for one another.
Wow! James post sounded very much like a recent discussion around the kitchen table. The prevalent attitude is, “I want everything and I want it now!” Without some level of personal responsibility, this attitude can have a detrimental effect everything from credit to the raising of one’s children when both parents “have” to work.
Ms. Hart raised the question of “What is the new reality?”. Do we need to lower our expectations? Will we be back to hot dogs and beans for a period of time?
Brain Mann, the other emotion is apathy.
For more people than we’d like to admit (it’s not an emotion exactly, but a feeling), hunger, is driving the mood. A lot of people who have done everything right don’t have jobs, or any hope of a job that pays a livable wage on the horizon.
Roosevelt’s crisis was worse, but he also provided jobs immediately and visibly. There are more people in poverty than there have been in the last 50 years. How long do we have to be patient with 10% unemployment in what everybody tells us is the land of opportunity?
A true 10% UE would be a blessing at this point. That number is so padded it’s laughable. “First time unemployment applications”. That’s what your 10% is. A recent report showed over 50% of those people under 25 were unemployed, and 62% of last years college grads are not employed-at all. Not at Walmart or McDonalds either.
Pardon the rant, but that so called number is so bogus it’s just laughable.
DBW- just how much support do you think old Barry would get if he got up on stage and the telepromter told him to tell the truth about peak oil and our future. “It’s gonna get cold and you people are gonna suffer…” Yeah, that’s a surefire way for a politician to commit suicide. So forget that happening friend. They won’t (and the Repubs won;t either) give us the bad news. Instead they’ll talk about “green” and “sustainable” and “renewable” and why cap and trade is sooooo good for us. Meanwhile were loaning money to what amounts to our enemies to drill offshore where we won’t. Makes sense.
I’m not even going into the sense of entitlement thing. Suffice it to say we did it to ourselves.