Oh, Mama, Can This Really Be The End?
Could this be the end of the Kennedy political dynasty?
Nearly 6 in 10 registered voters in the First Congressional District would consider another candidate or vote to replace Loughlin’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, according to a WPRI-TV, Channel 12 survey released Thursday night.
The poll offers a snapshot of an abysmal political climate for Democrats that could present serious problems for the eight-term incumbent Kennedy, according to pollster Joseph Fleming.
“It looks like it could be a very competitive race, which we haven’t seen in many years,” Fleming said, noting that Election Day is still nine months away. “I think people, right now, are really looking at who’s in office, and they’re considering somebody else.”
Kennedy’s office declined to respond to the WPRI poll, in which 28 percent of respondents from his district said they’d vote to replace the congressman if the election were held today; 31 percent said they’d consider another candidate; while 35 percent said they’d vote to reelect him.
Does not look good for Kennedy – if – a big if – there is a strong challenger and if things continue from now until election day as they are now.
But the political atmosphere is deathly toxic for Democrats, bordering on lethal. Americans – including a large number of self-identified Democrats – are rejecting the basic economic paradigm that has been a driver for Democrats. Voters are resoundingly anti-Keynesian.
While influential 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes would say it’s best to increase deficit spending in tough economic times, only 11% of American adults agree and think the nation needs to increase its deficit spending at this time. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 70% disagree and say it would be better to cut the deficit.
In fact, 59% think Keynes had it backwards and that increasing the deficit at this time would hurt the economy rather than help.
To help the economy, most Americans (56%) believe that cutting the deficit is the way to go.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of Americans, in fact, say the size of the federal budget deficit is due more to the unwillingness of politicians to cut government spending than to the reluctance of taxpayers to pay more in taxes.
Maybe the voters have had enough because the only growth sector of the economy is the number of Federal bureaucrats making six figure salaries while the masses face unemployment. Maybe it’s because the Democrat “grown-ups” in charge of taking care of the country fiddle around obsessively with health care “reform” while the economy burns down around America. Maybe it’s because average Americans understand that spending your way out of an economic hole has always been idiotic.
Regardless, the “throw the bums out” election looms, driven by the voter’s rejection of spend and tax and tax and tax policies. Every incumbent is in danger. Only those who get the message are safe. Those who assume they are safe because they are in “safe” seats – or who rely on a family name for protection – might want to think about what the election of Scott Brown really meant.
There are no safe seats.
