The other day we said that we have encountered many people who are disgusted with politicians of all ideological stripes. It turns out 72% of America now feels that way, according to pollster Frank Luntz:

The…reason why 72% of the people I interviewed say that they’re “mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore” has nothing to do with racism. No, their rage is about a lack of accountability, a lack of respect, and a lack of progress in the nation’s capital.

Let’s start with the absence of accountability, because that ranks No. 1 in the hearts and guts of the average American. Washington spends billions to bail out big business and then can’t explain where the money went. Washington spends $800 billion on a stimulus package filled with earmarks and pork projects. And now Washington is trying to create a trillion dollar health care experiment when over 85% of Americans are satisfied with their health care just as it is.

This could be forgiven, perhaps, if those elected officials from Washington exhibited even an ounce of respect for the voters who pay their salaries.

We live in a very divided time and sometimes it feels like America is coming apart at the seams. It is probably a vain hope, but it would be a very good thing indeed if Americans could at least begin to agree on a common set of rules for our critical national debates. The prospects appear slim, given the tin-eared and awful judgement of successive administrations, as well as a Congress that is dominated by safe seats, a condition that stifles real debate and fosters radicalism.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Democrats, General, Polling, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.