If voters do turn on Democrats, they will in effect be voting to make things even worse.

[bindelh]

Falling Into the Chasm
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 24, 2010

This is what happens when you need to leap over an economic chasm — but either can’t or won’t jump far enough, so that you only get part of the way across.

If Democrats do as badly as expected in next week’s elections, pundits will rush to interpret the results as a referendum on ideology. President Obama moved too far to the left, most will say, even though his actual program — a health care plan very similar to past Republican proposals, a fiscal stimulus that consisted mainly of tax cuts, help for the unemployed and aid to hard-pressed states — was more conservative than his election platform.

A few commentators will point out, with much more justice, that Mr. Obama never made a full-throated case for progressive policies, that he consistently stepped on his own message, that he was so worried about making bankers nervous that he ended up ceding populist anger to the right.

But the truth is that if the economic situation were better — if unemployment had fallen substantially over the past year — we wouldn’t be having this discussion. We would, instead, be talking about modest Democratic losses, no more than is usual in midterm elections.

The real story of this election, then, is that of an economic policy that failed to deliver. Why? Because it was greatly inadequate to the task.

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[WhiteTara]

1. they probably voted for

Nadir in 2000 too.

[denimgirly]

2. Obama governed Center-Right and Got a Smackdown from the Right and Disheartened the Left

Both parties stink but republicans are worse and so that is my only reason to vote democrat....if there was another viable party i would think twice about voting so to me until that happens i just have no choice but to vote democrat. I can see why voters are disappointedr though....we really need to remove this money thing from congress because it clearly makes them less interested in helping the voters.

[Juche]

3. Something like 25-35% of voters say they can still be swayed

Translation: There is a huge chunk of the electorate that pays so little attention that they can't tell a difference between the candidates.

In exit polls from the 2008 election something like 30% only decided who to vote for in the last few days and weeks of the election.

Lots of people in this nation don't pay much attention. If they did they'd know the difference between the 2 parties and find it easier to decide. And they are the ones who decide who wins. Right now the economy is shit and dems are seen as incumbents, so GOP it is.