Yep:
By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.
Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office…
…While anti-government sentiment has its own ideological and partisan basis, the public also expresses discontent with many of the country’s other major institutions. Just 25% say the federal government has a positive effect on the way things are going in the country and about as many (24%) say the same about Congress. Yet the ratings are just as low for the impact of large corporations (25% positive) and banks and other financial institutions (22%). And the marks are only slightly more positive for the national news media (31%) labor unions (32%) and the entertainment industry (33%).
Notably, those who say they are frustrated or angry with the federal government are highly critical of a number of other institutions as well. For example, fewer than one-in-five of those who say they are frustrated (18%) or angry (16%) with the federal government say that banks and other financial institutions have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country.
Do read the whole Pew survey as its quiet an eye-opener.
This does confirm my basic contention about the 2010 dynamic – people are furious with the way things are being done, not just angry about this or that issue which may fade away as time goes on. The reason the Democrats will be disappointed in their hopes for electoral amnesia by November – really, the only thing which could save their hides – is because the anger is over how things are being done as much as what is being done.
The whole establishment is being rejected by the electorate – outside of dyed-in-the-wool liberals, no one is remotely happy with current conditions, and even a lot of liberals feel let down by President Obama and, especially, the Democrat Congress. There is a perfect storm brewing which may sweep away the political landscape as we’ve known it since the 1930’s.
As I’ve been saying, whomever can tap in to this frustration and place themselves as a person who will change the way things are done will win in November. No one in the political class is safe – even Republicans have only this advantage: they’re not in power. Given the fact that Democrats rule, they’re going to bear the brunt of American anger – but it won’t surprise me if in some areas Democrat challengers tap in to the revolution and overturn a hidebound Republican or two.
This is a revolutionary time – the people have had enough.
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