We're So Unhappy...Let's Not Change Anything (October 25, 2012)

I'm not publishing the Daily Dash today for technical reasons, but I can say that I've looked at the data and there was little movement.  Here it is in a nutshell:

• Romney up 47.8 to 47.2 in national polls
• No change in swing states
• Obama still ahead in the Electoral Vollege projection 275-263
• Obameter steady at Obama +5.4
• Romney still up on the Charisma Factor by 2.3
• Senate now projected at 52-48 for Dems as Montana changed

Thus no kick Obama from his two debate wins as yet.

Here's a little rant in lieu of more numbers!

Americans are famously unhappy.  Fifty-five percent of us think the country is on the wrong track.  President Obama's approval rating has been mired in the 40's for most of the last year and is still stubbornly sticking at 49%.  Same with the rating for the venerable Supreme Court, down to a 49% favorable rating after a decade in the 60+% range.  And Congress...our most despised institution, with a pathetic 21% approval rating - and that is a marked improvement from the single digit number achieved a year ago.  

But thank goodness we CAN exercise our right to vote, and not only that, thanks to Citizens United, people -- and don't forget, my friend, that corporations are people, too -- have an unprecedented ability to throw money into upsetting the status quo.

So...throw the bums out, right?  Wrong.

While many races have razor thin margins, most prognosticators, including this one, see the following outcomes.  President Obama will be reelected.  The Democrats will continue to control the Senate by a narrow margin.  And the Republicans will continue to control the House, by a similar, though slightly smaller margin.  Obama, Reid, Boehner -- they're baaaaaaack!

We sure know how to shake things up!

A widely known phenomenon is at work: my (party/representative) is good, it's the political process and your (party/representative) that's terrible.  Gridlock has gripped not only our national institutions, but our voters as well.  It is amazing.

Not that I'm complaining too much.  

After all, I think President Obama and the Senate are good, it's the political process and the House, the Republicans and the Tea Party that are terrible.