The 'Seinfeld' Election
Voters are talking about the economy, Republicans about Obama and Democrats have failed to talk to the middle class.
An election about nothing.
Despite the conclusion tonight of this year’s expensive and long campaign, to many Americans this is the “Seinfeld” election – the campaign about nothing. There has been no overriding theme or message, no Contract with America from the Republicans and no battle plan for the middle class from Democrats.
The Republicans have had very little to say except “Obama bad,” as some have noted.
The Democrats, despite a steadily improving economy, growth rates hitting 3.5 percent and unemployment falling to 5.9 percent, aren’t making the argument that they are the party to help middle class families raise their wages, send their kids to college and ensure a stable financial future.
In a sense, this is not just a campaign about nothing, it is also a campaign about everything – lurching from one so-called crisis to another: from endless investigations about Benghazi or the IRS or the Secret Service to the Ukraine to Syria to the Islamic State group to Ebola.
[SEE: Editorial Cartoons on 2014 Congressional Elections]
The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans are seriously concerned about two things, jobs and the economy and breaking the partisan gridlock in Washington to get things done – both lead with 23 percent as the top problem.
It is almost as if Washington and the people are living on distant planets.
If this year’s $4 billion election should tell the Congress – especially the Republicans – one thing, it is enough with useless investigations, enough with wasting time on repealing Obamacare, enough with the politics of “no.” The public wants action, they want both parties to work together, to cross the aisle and to solve their problems.
In 2010, the tea party anger about the economy created a desire for intransigence for many: Stand your ground, don’t compromise. In 2014, the public is crying out for compromise and an end to the partisan gridlock in Washington.
That is why it is so sad that this campaign has been the Seinfeld election. Just when voters want answers, or at least proposals, they get negative attacks and all anti-Obama, all the time.
