Thursday, March 17, 2016

Three Revolts


Pollster Ron Faucheux says Three Revolts are Shaking American Politics, and I agree.

The first revolt [...] is an insurgency targeted against moral compromise and it is being waged within –– and, in some ways, against –– the Republican Party.

These conservative ideologues are tired of GOP candidates who don’t deliver on campaign promises, especially cutting government.

They loathe moderate Republicans who make deals with Democrats, and they view legislative bargaining as betrayal.

They see Barack Obama’s Washington as a foreign capital, much like Moscow or Beijing.

The second revolt is aimed at wealth inequality and corporate corruption. This revolt operates mostly within the Democratic Party, although many disaffected independents — especially younger voters –– find the cause appealing.

The third revolt is one directed at the political system itself.

While both the left and right share a growing contempt for politics as usual, the impetus for this popular uprising comes mostly from center-right voters upset by government paralysis and incompetence. It is a movement built upon cynicism –– and anger at dodgy politicians, broken institutions and increasing demands for political correctness. No longer content to just tweak the system, they want to knock it down.


McClatchy says America is Mad as Hell...

"More than 6 in 10 people think that either all or most Americans are angry with Washington"


* * *

“I plead guilty. I am angry,” Sanders recently told an audience in Maquoketa, Iowa, pushing back against former President Bill Clinton’s critique that voters need “not anger, but answers.”

Sanders continued: “I am angry and millions of Americans are angry. We are angry that our people are working longer hours for lower wages. We are angry that our criminal justice system is broken. And we’re angry that we have a corrupt campaign-finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections.”

The appeal resonates with voters furious over the role of money in politics: “I can’t even stand it, when I hear how much money they’re all willing to spend to run for office, but not provide day care for children,” said Monica McCarthy, waiting in a crowded union hall in Des Moines to hear Sanders speak. “It’s all rich guys who want to take over this country giving to other rich guys to help the rich.”
 
* * *

“I’m fed up,” Leake said, sporting a “Hillary for Prison 2016” button on his jacket as he waited in the cold to hear Trump speak. “I’m fed up with all the bull crap and all the lying. They’re spending us into debt and not doing anything they promised they would do.”

* * *

“Our politics have changed,” Miringoff said, adding “there’s a growing mistrust of institutions,” including government, the health care system, and the media and pollsters.

* * *
“The whole country is going to hell...”

"Roads and bridges in the U.S. are falling apart, jobs are scarce and the U.S. border is wide open..."

“We’re letting all these people into the country. No one even knows who the hell they are,” he said. “We don’t need any more Arabs. The United States, anymore, is just a dumping ground for everyone.”

* * *

“We have reached the point where many feel that the opposite side of the political aisle poses an existential threat to the country itself,” said Patrick Murray, director of the polling institute in West Long Branch, N.J. “It is not clear how Washington can be fixed when Republicans and Democrats don’t even agree on what the problem is.”


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article57273748.html#storylink=cpy

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