Most read articles--from real clear politics
Most Read
Last 24 Hours
Midterms May Have Saved a Superpower
- Nile Gardiner, Daily Telegraph
Republican Party Time: Man Up Mr. Speaker!
- Maureen Dowd, NY Times
For Obama, the Tide Turns Starkly
- Peter Baker, New York Times
Exit Polls: Unprecedented White Flight from Dems
- David Paul Kuhn, RCP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
exit poll data USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-11-03-Analysis_N.htm
Obama coalition frays amid voter angst
voter earthquake
Big swings by some key groups reflected a voter earthquake that shook some assumptions about the partisan landscape:
?Independents nationwide supported Republicans by a 15 percentage-points margin, according to the exit polls. Four years earlier, they had backed congressional Democrats by 18 points ? a swing of a stunning 33 points.
"The angry independents" went to the polls, says GOP pollster Ed Goeas, calling their votes "a rejection of the Obama solutions" on the economy.
?Women, traditionally a mainstay for Democrats, were equally likely to vote for GOP candidates for the first time in at least three decades. Four years ago, they had backed Democrats by 12 points.
"Men are angry, rebellious; women are more disappointed" by economic policies pursued by the White House and Congress, said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "Women feel the policies helped the banks and Wall Street more than they helped families at their kitchen table."
?Seniors, the age group most skeptical of the health care law, moved to the GOP. Those 65 and older split between the two parties in 2008 but backed Republicans by 19 points this time.
Older voters also turned out, boosting their clout in a year in which turnout was down. Two years ago, 16% of the electorate was 65 and older. This year, the age group made up about 25% of voters.
?Middle-class Americans turned toward Republicans. Those with family incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 a year had supported congressional Democrats by 5 points in 2008; now they backed Republicans by 6.
Voters with only a high school education did the same. In 2008, they supported Democrats by 12 points. Tuesday, they backed the GOP by 6.
Democrats suffered setbacks across the Rust Belt, states from Pennsylvania to Minnesota that backed Obama in 2008 but have been hit hard by the faltering economy. Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold lost in Wisconsin and Republican Pat Toomey won a Democrat-held Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Democrats dropped five congressional seats in Ohio, five in Pennsylvania, three in Illinois, two in Indiana and one in Michigan.
Almost every voter group agreed on the issue driving their vote: The economy. Six in 10 said in exit polls the economy is the most important issue facing the nation, and for many, it was personal. Four in 10 said their families were worse off financially than they were two years ago, and one in three said someone in their household had lost a job in the past two years.
"They all share a common problem, and that's the economy, the concern about jobs, the concern about making mortgage payments," said Andrew Kohut, director of the non-partisan Pew Research Center. "The frustration with the lack of progress is a commonly shared experience, and that's why you see such an across-the-board Republican tide."
Democrats continued to claim strong support among some groups, including the young people who were a signature component of the Obama coalition in 2008. They supported Democratic candidates by 19 points this year.
Many of the first-time voters who turned out two years ago ? including young people, African Americans and Hispanics ? didn't show up Tuesday.
"This is a different electorate," Goeas said. Two years ago, voters under 30 made up 18% of the electorate. This year, they made up just 11%.
The voters who cast ballots this time also were older, less racially diverse and more conservative. The percentage of white voters ticked up, compared with 2008. In 2006, three in 10 voters called themselves conservative. This time, four in 10 did.
Only three times in the past century has the nation seen such significant turnover in Congress for three elections or more in a row: The tumultuous period before and after World War I, including the Democratic realignment consolidated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, and the partisan turmoil after World War II. Then, control of the House switched back and forth.
In 1952, Republicans won control of the House only to lose it two years later. Forty years would pass before they would get it back again in 1994.
A vote against, not for
The turbulence in U.S. politics today isn't because Americans are changing their minds about which party they prefer, said William Galston, a White House adviser to President Clinton now at the Brookings Institution.
It's because they don't like either one.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Where did America tune in--
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/11/03/fox-news-dominates-cable-news-election-night-coverage/70725
Unsurprisingly FNC easily won in primetime as well as the 5p-7pm period. CNN pulled ahead of MSNBC but not nearly by the margins separating FNC and CNN.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=407><COLGROUP><COL span=2 width=64></COL><COL span=3 width=93></COL><TBODY><TR height=20><TD height=20 width=64>8-11p ET</TD><TD width=64></TD><TD width=93>MSNBC</TD><TD width=93>CNN</TD><TD width=93>FNC</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>P2+</TD><TD></TD><TD>1,945,000</TD><TD>2,423,000</TD><TD>6,957,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>25-54</TD><TD></TD><TD>669,000</TD><TD>1,030,000</TD><TD>2,431,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>5p-7p</TD><TD></TD><TD>MSNBC</TD><TD>CNN</TD><TD>FNC</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>P2+</TD><TD></TD><TD>869,000</TD><TD>945,000</TD><TD>3,092,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>25-54</TD><TD></TD><TD>256,000</TD><TD>283,000</TD><TD>750,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
______________________________
--and best part of day after was O's speech --highlighting returning bi partisanship and nation uniting again--
Malikin had good article on subject--
Just two short years ago, Obama campaigned as the transcendent unifier. ?Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,? he proclaimed. ?We have been and always will be the United States of America.?
It?s been an Us vs. Them freefall ever since.
?We don?t mind the Republicans joining us,? Obama taunted a few weeks ago. ?They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.?
?They?re counting on young people staying home and union members staying home and black folks staying home,? the fear-mongering agent of hope and change jeered on the campaign trail last month.
?You would think they?d be saying thank you,? he sneered last April, when millions turned out for the nationwide Tax Day tea party protests.
?I want them just to get out of the way? and ?don?t do a lot of talking,? he scoffed in response to prescient critics of the federal trillion-dollar stimulus boondoggle.
In addition to labeling GOP opponents of his open-borders policies ?enemies? who needed to be ?punished? by Latino voters, Obama accused them ? that is, us ? of lacking patriotism. ?Those aren?t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values,? he told viewers of the Spanish-language network Univision.
Most Read
Last 24 Hours
Midterms May Have Saved a Superpower
- Nile Gardiner, Daily Telegraph
Republican Party Time: Man Up Mr. Speaker!
- Maureen Dowd, NY Times
For Obama, the Tide Turns Starkly
- Peter Baker, New York Times
Exit Polls: Unprecedented White Flight from Dems
- David Paul Kuhn, RCP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
exit poll data USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-11-03-Analysis_N.htm
Obama coalition frays amid voter angst
voter earthquake
Big swings by some key groups reflected a voter earthquake that shook some assumptions about the partisan landscape:
?Independents nationwide supported Republicans by a 15 percentage-points margin, according to the exit polls. Four years earlier, they had backed congressional Democrats by 18 points ? a swing of a stunning 33 points.
"The angry independents" went to the polls, says GOP pollster Ed Goeas, calling their votes "a rejection of the Obama solutions" on the economy.
?Women, traditionally a mainstay for Democrats, were equally likely to vote for GOP candidates for the first time in at least three decades. Four years ago, they had backed Democrats by 12 points.
"Men are angry, rebellious; women are more disappointed" by economic policies pursued by the White House and Congress, said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "Women feel the policies helped the banks and Wall Street more than they helped families at their kitchen table."
?Seniors, the age group most skeptical of the health care law, moved to the GOP. Those 65 and older split between the two parties in 2008 but backed Republicans by 19 points this time.
Older voters also turned out, boosting their clout in a year in which turnout was down. Two years ago, 16% of the electorate was 65 and older. This year, the age group made up about 25% of voters.
?Middle-class Americans turned toward Republicans. Those with family incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 a year had supported congressional Democrats by 5 points in 2008; now they backed Republicans by 6.
Voters with only a high school education did the same. In 2008, they supported Democrats by 12 points. Tuesday, they backed the GOP by 6.
Democrats suffered setbacks across the Rust Belt, states from Pennsylvania to Minnesota that backed Obama in 2008 but have been hit hard by the faltering economy. Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold lost in Wisconsin and Republican Pat Toomey won a Democrat-held Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Democrats dropped five congressional seats in Ohio, five in Pennsylvania, three in Illinois, two in Indiana and one in Michigan.
Almost every voter group agreed on the issue driving their vote: The economy. Six in 10 said in exit polls the economy is the most important issue facing the nation, and for many, it was personal. Four in 10 said their families were worse off financially than they were two years ago, and one in three said someone in their household had lost a job in the past two years.
"They all share a common problem, and that's the economy, the concern about jobs, the concern about making mortgage payments," said Andrew Kohut, director of the non-partisan Pew Research Center. "The frustration with the lack of progress is a commonly shared experience, and that's why you see such an across-the-board Republican tide."
Democrats continued to claim strong support among some groups, including the young people who were a signature component of the Obama coalition in 2008. They supported Democratic candidates by 19 points this year.
Many of the first-time voters who turned out two years ago ? including young people, African Americans and Hispanics ? didn't show up Tuesday.
"This is a different electorate," Goeas said. Two years ago, voters under 30 made up 18% of the electorate. This year, they made up just 11%.
The voters who cast ballots this time also were older, less racially diverse and more conservative. The percentage of white voters ticked up, compared with 2008. In 2006, three in 10 voters called themselves conservative. This time, four in 10 did.
Only three times in the past century has the nation seen such significant turnover in Congress for three elections or more in a row: The tumultuous period before and after World War I, including the Democratic realignment consolidated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, and the partisan turmoil after World War II. Then, control of the House switched back and forth.
In 1952, Republicans won control of the House only to lose it two years later. Forty years would pass before they would get it back again in 1994.
A vote against, not for
The turbulence in U.S. politics today isn't because Americans are changing their minds about which party they prefer, said William Galston, a White House adviser to President Clinton now at the Brookings Institution.
It's because they don't like either one.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Where did America tune in--
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/11/03/fox-news-dominates-cable-news-election-night-coverage/70725
Unsurprisingly FNC easily won in primetime as well as the 5p-7pm period. CNN pulled ahead of MSNBC but not nearly by the margins separating FNC and CNN.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=407><COLGROUP><COL span=2 width=64></COL><COL span=3 width=93></COL><TBODY><TR height=20><TD height=20 width=64>8-11p ET</TD><TD width=64></TD><TD width=93>MSNBC</TD><TD width=93>CNN</TD><TD width=93>FNC</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>P2+</TD><TD></TD><TD>1,945,000</TD><TD>2,423,000</TD><TD>6,957,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>25-54</TD><TD></TD><TD>669,000</TD><TD>1,030,000</TD><TD>2,431,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>5p-7p</TD><TD></TD><TD>MSNBC</TD><TD>CNN</TD><TD>FNC</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>P2+</TD><TD></TD><TD>869,000</TD><TD>945,000</TD><TD>3,092,000</TD></TR><TR height=20><TD height=20>25-54</TD><TD></TD><TD>256,000</TD><TD>283,000</TD><TD>750,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
______________________________
--and best part of day after was O's speech --highlighting returning bi partisanship and nation uniting again--
Malikin had good article on subject--
Just two short years ago, Obama campaigned as the transcendent unifier. ?Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,? he proclaimed. ?We have been and always will be the United States of America.?
It?s been an Us vs. Them freefall ever since.
?We don?t mind the Republicans joining us,? Obama taunted a few weeks ago. ?They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.?
?They?re counting on young people staying home and union members staying home and black folks staying home,? the fear-mongering agent of hope and change jeered on the campaign trail last month.
?You would think they?d be saying thank you,? he sneered last April, when millions turned out for the nationwide Tax Day tea party protests.
?I want them just to get out of the way? and ?don?t do a lot of talking,? he scoffed in response to prescient critics of the federal trillion-dollar stimulus boondoggle.
In addition to labeling GOP opponents of his open-borders policies ?enemies? who needed to be ?punished? by Latino voters, Obama accused them ? that is, us ? of lacking patriotism. ?Those aren?t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values,? he told viewers of the Spanish-language network Univision.
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