I Am Exasperated

[Bluetus]

15. It isn't that complicated

People are really angry. For decades, Gallup has tracked national sentiment on the simple question of, "Is the country moving in the right direction or wrong direction". From the inception of that survey until about 2005, the sentiment oscillated from about 30% right to 70% right. It was the kind of pendulum swing we have come to accept in our politics. But for the past 20 years, that number has been stuck right on 30% believing we are on the right track and 70% believing wrong track, regardless of which party held the White House.

People are pissed. They know they are getting a raw deal, and the sad truth is that they simply don't see Democrats as doing much to help them. Some of that is based in truth, and some of that is based in really lousy messaging on our part. And of course, this same period correlates with the implosion of the whole concept of objective journalism in our corporate media, and that is a huge problem.

It is not coincidental that during that same period, the number of people identifying as either Republican or Democrat shrunk to about 25% with about 50% now calling themselves Independent.

Among ourselves, we talk a good story about the issues the public largely supports, but they simply don't give us any credit for that.

Most of the issues that have made people really angry can be lumped into "economic unfairness". They know there is rampant price-gouging. They know corporations aren't paying their fair share. They know billionaires have taken over our government. They know higher education is killing people, leaving them with educational debt they may never repay. They know our health care system is beyond dysfunctional. They believe young people growing up today will be the first generation in a century with less disposable income and less economic security than their parents.

We can argue all we want as to why these things are the fault of Republicans. But let's get real. >75 million people don't think we are any better than Republicans on economic issues.

And what did we talk about in the campaign? Not these issues, that's for sure. Yes, some of these issues were mentioned in passing, but the overwhelming message was on abortion, trans rights, immigration something-or-other, and the vague topic of "democracy".

We had better damn well learn how to talk about the issues that are making Americans so angry.