Posted on 02/10/2014 5:42:52 PM PST by cotton1706
In a new episode of Political Wire's podcast, we spoke with Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster for the George Washington University Battleground Poll. Lake shared her insights with us on the mood of the electorate and Democrats' turnout challenges as the 2014 midterms approach.
Here are four takeaways:
1. We're in unfamiliar territory when it comes to voters' frustrations with government and the economy: The last time Americans felt this sour about their government was during the Watergate scandal, Lake said. Americans are fed up with both parties, and their frustration with Congress has gotten to the point where voters are even souring to some extent on their own representatives in Congress. "They're not ready to fire their guy yet, but they've definitely put their guy on notice," Lake said. But unlike during the Watergate era, Lake said, right now voters are also strongly frustrated with the state of the economy. And this time voters' disgust with government stems not from corruption scandals but from a perception that government is highly polarized and can't get anything done: "It's really hard to imagine, 'Where does this end, where does this come out?'"
SEE ALSO: The scandals swirling around Chris Christie aren't going away anytime soon
2. Democrats need to talk more about jobs. Their focus on the minimum wage isn't a jobs platform: Yes, raising the minimum wage, which many Democrats have proposed as a way to tackle income inequality, polls well with voters. It even gets support from half of Republicans, Lake said. But she cautions: "I think the winning prescription is actually something that Democrats don't talk about right now, and that's jobs." Voters care even more about jobs, she suggested;
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This is why we need a slew of conservative candidates! So we can sweep them into power. Just as Obama swept in a slew of hard left liberals in 2008.
I’ve already detected the smell of massive voter fraud from the ‘RATS.
Dems don’t panic.
They unleash their MSM journ-0-lists on unsuspecting Republicans, fund libertarians, and win with a Clintonian plurality.
At least that’s the plan for 2014.
It could be the most important election of our lifetimes...no, wait - that was 2012.
Democrats can’t really steal any House seats, but they have no intention of letting Republicans take the Senate no matter how many boxes of ballots they have to “find”.
Still the same old racist, ageist garbage from a True Believer who is apparently too thick to realize that "more jobs" and "raise the minimum wage" are opposing goals. Nevertheless, this one is merely a tactician, not a policy wonk in Beltway terminology. Her objective is whatever polls well, whatever confers power, not what is done with that power.
Nevertheless, there is in this the seed of winning tactics: take a loss in '14, scream from Day One that anything unpleasant is to be laid at the feet of their opposition - the lickspittle media will be happy to oblige - and hope for a resurgence in 2016 under the progressive darling of the moment: Hillary as of this writing but these enthusiasms tend to be fickle and ephemeral within the ruling class, as Hillary can bitterly attest. But it's all right. They'll tell us who we'll vote for by and by.
Oh GOOD GRIEF, can we stop hearing about Watergate as the benchmark for all government lows?!? There’s not a scintilla about Watergate that even comes close to the illegalities of this administration. It’s like comparing kindergarteners grabbing away your toys with urban yutes playing the knockout game.
“This is why we need a slew of conservative candidates!”
Too late. Many of the filing deadlines are past and most of the others are really close. Almost all the primaries are over by June 15. There is 4 months left.
You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you will be the congressperson in your district.
It takes about 6 months preparation minimum and more like a year or two.
“It could be the most important election of our lifetimes...no, wait - that was 2012.”
My opinion was that 2012 was the most important election and America lost.
If there isn’t a wholesale flush of the political pipes in this country in 2014 I will probably be unable to maintain any long-term hope for this nation. That’s my failing but I’ll bet I’m not alone.
The public is against every Obama policy but the GOP isn’t going after this guy on the issues because they don’t want to be called RACIST.
GOP should bring up his lack of shovel ready jobs after not listening to GOP in Job program.
And for heavens sake stop letting him lower the UE number by not counting the 26 million Americans who are Unemployed.
The GOP has to spend money to educate the People that there are 1.7 more people out of work than when Obama took office.
Bush is perceived as still being more responsible than Obama for the economy after 6 years in office.
Spend the money, start with the economy and Obamacare.
Next show the young people its Obama’s fault half of you can’t get your first post college job. Its demonstrably not the fault of the GOP.
Energy independence, repatriation of 1.5 trillion incorporate profits held overseas, and lowering Corporate taxes and reducing regulations on small to medium sized businesses would help them hire people. Obamacare is also going to drag the economy and nobody wants to add full time workers to payrolls while Obamacare is changed every day and is unpredictable.
It could be the most important election of our lifetimes...no, wait - that was 2012.
‘16 is the next big one because the GOP has signaled they have no intention of being an engaged opposition party with the kenyan in the WH.
‘14 is just all a lot of hot air for political junkies. It will matter little in the end. The House seems safe for the GOP. A Senate GOP majority that includes several progressive Republicans won’t change how the kenyan operates one bit. The Dems will just peel off a few votes from the large progressive wing of the GOP bench and get nearly all of what they want in the end.
“Too late.”
Well, if we start toppling dominoes three weeks from tomorrow, we can at least get a more conservative senate. Stovall or Stockman instead of Cornyn, then Bevin instead of McConnell, Bright instead of Graham, McDaniel instead of Cochran, Carr instead of Alexander and Wolf instead of Roberts. Add in Ben Sasse in NE and Greg Brannon in NC, that’s eight new conservatives in the senate.
We need more ‘lookers’ of the female variety. Won’t happen.
You are not alone in that belief
Time for a clean sweep and the socialist are now just understanding to what extent they are about to be set back into the wilderness and back under the rock they crawled out from!
You’re right.
Actually, the last time this really happened was back in the early 19 hundreds when the muckrakers got going and all that. That is when the progressives gained power through with TR.
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