Will Voters Punish Dems for Not Stopping GOP?

Piechart: 86% blueberry, 13% rhubarb, 1% key lime Image by Wikimedia Commons

J.J. Goldberg February 27, 2014

Profiles in democracy: The latest New York Times-CBS News poll indicates that voters are favoring Republicans over Democrats 42-to-39 in the upcoming midterm congressional elections.

The reason? They’re angry at Democrats for failing to implement their agenda, which voters largely favor — including greater economic equality, higher minimum wage, abortion access, marriage equality, legalized pot, higher taxes as part of budget reform — in the face of unremitting Republican opposition. That is, they want to punish the Democrats for letting themselves get stymied by Republican obstruction, unprecedented use of the filibuster, refusal by the Tea Partied House GOP to pass any of the measures Democrats and most voters see as important. So to punish the Democrats, they’re going to vote Republican.

Put differently, they’re going to vote Republican to punish the Democrats for failing to prevent the Republicans from doing things they don’t like.

Got it?

J.J. Goldberg is editor emeritus of the Forward, where he served as editor in chief for seven years (2000-2007).

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO