Thread: How Angry Are Americans? We'll Soon Find Out!

How Angry Are Americans? We’ll Soon Find Out!

By Joe Guzzardi

One of the most fascinating things to watch on November 4th will be how many entrenched incumbents are defeated because…well, just because they’re entrenched incumbents.

If the Congressional approval rating is, as reported, a measly 10 percent that means that more than 400 hundred U.S. Representatives and 30 Senators should be looking for work come January. [Congress Approval Rating Just 10% As Bush Goes From ‘Lame’ to ‘Dead’ Duck, by Simon Tisdall, The Guardian, October 1, 2008]

Of course, this is unlikely to happen. While Americans do a good job of making noise about how angry they are, they rarely follow through at the ballot box.

You can see why Congressional approval is low.

Let’s imagine that you’re a San Francisco liberal Democrat living in California’s Eighth District. For the past ten election cycles you have consistently, along with 80 percent of your neighbors, voted for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And let’s further assume—and it’s not too much of a stretch—that you’re fed up with San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy, tacitly endorsed by Pelosi, that harbors criminals and endangers innocent citizens.

Such a person has two options:

Pelosi’s Republican opponent Dana Walsh, a long-time member of the San Francisco Republican Central Committee

Independent anti-Iraq War candidate Cindy Sheehan.
Unlike Pelosi’s previous opponents, whom she ground into gravel, Walsh has significant financial backing. [Campaign Cash Flows to Pelosi’s Republican Opponent Despite Difficult Odds, by Edward Epstein and Rachael Kapochunas, CQ Politics, July 21, 2008]

Walsh, who promises to work to enforce federal immigration law said:

“We need to remove the incentives for those who break our laws to enter our country: No welfare benefits, no drivers licenses, no free college tuition and no amnesty for illegal aliens.â€

He has moved to Pittsburgh, PA where the air is clean and the growth rate stable.

The city of Pittsburgh is truely beautiful and fun. In days gone bye, it was one of the dirtiest cities in the country. Thankfully, those days are gone. Unfortunately, many of the jobs that caused the pollution are also gone. I have always enjoyed my visits to this city.

Jack Murtha's Western PA constituents may be mad enough to show Gasbag Jack the way to the exit sign: www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/10/021870.php

Me I can say to you all, I have gone beyond mad, and steaming.