Tapping into Voter Anger

[impeach the gop]

By Mary Lynn Jones, AlterNet
November 26, 2003

If you need proof that Americans are unhappy about their government
right now, look no further than The New York Times bestseller list.
Among the top nonfiction hardcover books for the week of Nov. 23 are
Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country?"; Al Franken's "Lies (And
the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)"; Sen. Zell Miller's (D-Ga.) "A National
Party No More"; and Bill O Reilly's "Who's Looking Out for You?"

There are other, more telling signs that voters are mad. Polls show that 50
percent of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Then there is the success of presidential candidate Howard Dean, who
has gone from insurgent to frontrunner within the space of a few months.
And there is no mistaking the anti-incumbent mood that swept Gov. Gray
Davis (D-Calif.) from office and ousted the ruling parties from governors'
mansions in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Voter anger is nothing new in American politics. In bad economic times,
Americans tend to vote their pocket books and send the president
packing. In 1992, the public took out its frustration on President George
H.W. Bush, largely due to his indifference to the sagging economy. Two
years later, voters unhappy with the Clinton administration's positions on
issues such as guns and health care gave the GOP control of Congress
for the first time in 40 years.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17280