Will Voters Punish Dems for Not Stopping GOP?

Piechart: 86% blueberry, 13% rhubarb, 1% key lime Image by Wikimedia Commons

J.J. Goldberg February 27, 2014

Profiles in democracy: The latest New York Times-CBS News poll indicates that voters are favoring Republicans over Democrats 42-to-39 in the upcoming midterm congressional elections.

The reason? They’re angry at Democrats for failing to implement their agenda, which voters largely favor — including greater economic equality, higher minimum wage, abortion access, marriage equality, legalized pot, higher taxes as part of budget reform — in the face of unremitting Republican opposition. That is, they want to punish the Democrats for letting themselves get stymied by Republican obstruction, unprecedented use of the filibuster, refusal by the Tea Partied House GOP to pass any of the measures Democrats and most voters see as important. So to punish the Democrats, they’re going to vote Republican.

Put differently, they’re going to vote Republican to punish the Democrats for failing to prevent the Republicans from doing things they don’t like.

Got it?

J.J. Goldberg is editor emeritus of the Forward, where he served as editor in chief for seven years (2000-2007).

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].