Voters Need to Stay Mad

Published in the Lynchburg Ledger on September 24, 2010

by Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

It takes a lot to get the American people mad.  In the past 100 years or so, there have only been a handful of events that raised the ire of the American people.

On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine was sunk in Havana harbor which ushered in the Spanish American War (1898) and gave rise to the saying, “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain.”  It was a sneak attack.

There was the sneak attack of Pearl Harbor by a Japanese sneak attack on December 7, 1941 that immersed us in World War II and mobilized America.

Then there was the Islamic terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 that changed the way of American life forever.  Another sneak attack.

Lastly, there was the election of Barack Obama as President, another sneak attack.  Had he run as the socialist that he is, I doubt he would have been elected.  He has mobilized more Americans than 9-11.  Currently, 45.3 percent approve of Obama and 49.8 percent disapprove.

In January of 2009, the Generic Congressional Ballot favored Democrats over Republicans by a whopping 48 to 34 percent. 

In just four short months, that margin shrank to 41 to 38 percent as we began to see Barack Obama for what he really is and congress for what it is.  By September of 2009, just 9 months into the Obama presidency, the generic ballot tied at 42-42 percent.

For the next 10 months, it stayed nearly tied with Democrats leading occasionally.  But in July of this year, the American people seemed to have an epiphany.  It appears that some of the American people began to wake up and realize exactly what the Democrats were doing to our nation.

By mid July, the Generic Congressional Ballot swung to the Republicans for the first time and the margin has increased steadily as Election Day draws near.  Today, it stands at 46 to 41 in favor of the Republicans.

However, there is now a third political influence to consider, and that is the Tea Party effect.  Philosophically, Tea Party folks are more aligned with Republican thought than with the Democrats.  We have seen many Tea Party-backed candidates running for Republican nominations.  I don’t know of a single one seeking a Democrat nomination.

In fact, many Democrats have moved politically right to the Tea Party movement.  CNN reported on April 2, 2010, “Some Americans who say they have been sympathetic to Democratic causes in the past -- some even voted for Democratic candidates -- are angry with President Obama and his party. They say they are now supporting the Tea Party -- a movement that champions less government, lower taxes and the defeat of Democrats even though it's not formally aligned with the Republican Party.”

Voters are not only mad at Obama and the Democrats, but also with the Republicans.

I vividly remember the campaign of 1994 when the voters were very concerned about Bill Clinton and the Democrat majority in Congress.  They had tried and failed to pass “HillaryCare,” but that was enough to get the voter’s attention.  Thanks to a brilliant strategy by Newt Gingrich called the “Contract with America,” Republicans took control of the House and Senate, prompting ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings (a Canadian citizen) to claim “The voters had a temper tantrum last week.”

It didn’t take long for the Republicans to become more and more like Democrats until the voters had another temper tantrum and kicked them out in 2006 and 2008.

The rise of the Tea Party movement occurred because the normal place for the concerned citizens to go, the Republican Party, ignored their concerns and ran them off.

Recent primary election results show that the influence of the Tea Party is being felt in Republican politics.  Instead of embracing the change, the Republican establishment is pushing back against it.

In Florida, Governor Charlie Crist felt the heat early in the campaign for Senate and dropped out, opting to run as an independent.

In Nevada, Republican Sharon Angle won the Republican nomination for Senate to face Harry Reid with the endorsement of the Tea Party Express.  I also contributed to her campaign.

In Alaska, Joe Miller, with the backing of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party upset incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has decided not to accept the will of the voters and has announced she is mounting a write-in campaign.  It is this type of arrogance that has repelled Tea Party folks from the Republicans.

In Delaware, another Tea Party-backed candidate Christine O’Donnell easily defeated the Republican establishment candidate Congressman Mike Castle, who often voted with Obama and the Democrats.  After his defeat, Castle called Obama and Rahm Emanuel but has yet to call Christine O’Donnell.  I also contributed to the O’Donnell campaign.

The Republican Party has a unique opportunity to pull off a big victory, but will the old establishment Republicans squander that chance?

Locally, it appears that the Tea Party people are aligning behind Robert Hurt.  Tom Perriello is running outrageously false TV ads against Hurt as a move of desperation.  Polls had shown him down until he started his lying negative campaign ads.  They are now in a statistical tie.

I would rather see Hurt in a tie or even lagging in the polls as that tends to make the volunteers work harder. 

The electorate needs to stay just as mad as they are from now until November 2nd and take out their frustrations at the ballot box.