Primaries

Apparently established politicians consider primary elections to be of little importance (unless they’re running for one office or another), and the last few days seem to indicate the truth in that. I notice that the White House is busily ignoring the whole “Super Tuesday” massacre, with an explanation for each failure: weak candidates, campaigns that failed to sufficiently embrace the president, and a toxic political environment that is hostile to incumbents. But still, when the party in power looses over half the primaries held on that day, those primaries just might be indicative of considerable voter unrest. ‘Course the republicans didn’t do a lot better, with a number of officially approved candidates coming in a poor second or even third place. The real winners seemed to be the candidates supported by the Tea Party movement! A new poll says 63 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Idaho "generally support the agenda of the tea party movement," with one in six calling themselves members. The poll in Idaho, the nations “most Republican state”, came from an Idaho Statesman/KBOI-TV poll conducted May 17-19 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research in Washington, D.C. A national poll in late April found 27 percent supporting the tea party movement. Yet the same poll asked respondents of all political parties if they were "active" in the movement, and just 2 percent said yes. Asked a slightly different question in Idaho, "Do you consider yourself a member of the tea party?" 16 percent said yes.

Dealt a setback from an angry electorate, Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington have been studying the defeats of hand-picked candidates in hopes of learning lessons for other upcoming primaries, and probably the fall election as well. Any doubt about how toxic the political environment is for congressional incumbents and candidates preferred by party leaders disappeared when voters fired Sen. Arlen Specter, forced Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a runoff, and chose tea party darling Rand Paul to be the GOP nominee in Kentucky's Senate race. The message is clear: It's an anti-Washington, anti-establishment year, with voter frustrations fired by a sluggish economy, seemingly unending joblessness, bottom-of-the-barrel Congressional approval ratings, and only lukewarm support of Mr. Obama. People just aren't very happy with anyone linked to power it seems. Taken together, the outcome of the Super Tuesday primaries, following voter rejections of GOP Sen. Bob Bennett, and Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan in West Virginia, provides further evidence that anyone affiliated with Washington or traditional party organizations is at risk, regardless of their affiliation.

Future implications for both parties could be huge. Candidates like Paul and Sestak owe little or nothing to their respective parties. The art of coalition building could become a thing of the past if more freshman congressmen come to Washington as free agents with no political baggage, and disconnected from the usual party politics. Still, those victories are being called a rejection of the establishment by upstarts who beat the opposition of their party’s leaders, swept in by angry voters who are in no mood to take orders from assorted party bosses. This could also create a rather awkward situation for the White House, with candidates hungrily looking to the November election, and owing nothing to Mr. Obama, who, in order to see his agenda through, desperately needs the loyalty of all democrats. Seventy percent of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in Washington, including twenty-two percent who say they are "angry" about the situation. Only fifteen percent approve of the job being done by Congress.

Looking to the future, half of all Americans say that life for the next generation will be worse than it is now, while only twenty-eight percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in Washington, a number that includes less than one Republican in ten. Among Americans who describe themselves as angry, the top reasons given were not representing the people, partisan politics, unemployment and the economy, and government spending. That frustration crosses party lines, as both Republicans and Democrats are viewed unfavorably by a majority of Americans. Democrats' favorable rating has fallen from 57 percent to 37 percent, while the Republicans have improved (and that's not saying much) as 33 percent have a favorable view of the party, while 55 percent have an unfavorable view. Sixty-one percent currently say the county is on the wrong track, with only 32 percent saying America is on the right track. Were I a politician, I’d be real concerned with those numbers.

Personally I’m rather amused by this sudden flurry of “fire the incumbents” anger, as I’ve been saying much the same for quite a few years now. Like many of the Tea Party folks, I’m mad. I’m mad at the democrats for pushing their far left socialist agenda on America. I’m mad at the republicans for not fighting tooth and nail against that progressive socialism. I’m also mad at the republicans for their attempts at compromise with the progressives rapidly destroying my country! Compromise Hell! But most of all I’m mad… infuriated might be a better term, with the American voters, complacently sitting on their thumbs and constantly re-electing the same proven enemies of our freedom and democracy, while the nation goes down the drain.

Remember to vote in November, and while you’re at it, remember what the democratic majority has been doing to us for the last few years.