Anti-incumbent Mood, but, not vote?
CNN reports on a new poll. Though Americans hold an anti-incumbent mood, they won't be voting anti-incumbent. So, why do they think anything will improve? From CNN:
The issue of corruption ranked high on Americans' list of concerns in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey, taken Friday through Sunday.But with the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate up for grabs in November, most of the 1,003 adults polled said they don't think their own lawmakers are
corrupt.
However, that was not the only take. USA Today reports:
A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday signals a perilous year for incumbents. Views of whether most members of Congress and the respondents' own representatives deserve re-election have sunk to levels not seen since 1994, when Democrats lost control of both houses. (Related: Congress poll results)
Comments
I'm voting anti-incumbent all the way!!! We need to remind our "representatives" who they're working for...it's not the lobbyists, it's not the campaign donors, it's WE THE PEOPLE!!!
Don't just think it, do it. Vote anti-incumbent!
Posted by: Stephanie | January 17, 2006 3:50 AM
Me too.
Why?
Because, the incumbents:
[] refuse to pass many badly needed, common-sense, no-brainer, constructive reforms (e.g. campaign finance reform, election reform, one-purpose-per-bill amendment, balanced budget-amendment, etc.).
[] vote irresponsibly (e.g. pork-barrel, graft, waste, corporate welfare, etc.), look the other way because they lack the peer-pressure to police their own ranks, and continue to grow government and the national debt to nightmare proportions.
[] refuse to tackle tough issues or address numerous pressing problems, for fear of risking re-election or defying their big-money-donors.
[] spend too much time and tax-payers money raising more money for their campaign war-chests.
[] are bought-and-paid-for, are too beholding to their big-money-donors, and fail to adequately address numerous pressing problems that threaten the future and security of the nation.
[] fuel the partisan warfare, and seduce voters into a circular pattern that distracts voters from more substantive issues.
[] somehow still convince many voters to empower the incumbents that use and abuse the voters.
[] pressure and seduce newcomers into Congress to conform to the status quo, look the other way, or be shunned and isolated.
Voters must make reform happen. Voters have the leverage (their votes) to peacefully force government to be responsible and accountable. Voters are supposed to vote out (or recall) irresponsible incumbents, repeatedly, until elected officials are responsible and accountable. That is what the voters are supposed to do, and should have been doing all along.
[] It is becoming unimportant who we vote for if we don't hold them accountable after electing them. Some people are afraid that if they vote out their Congress persons, their state will suffer. Well, folks, we are all already suffering. What exactly is it you think you will lose by voting out irresponsible Congress persons? Less pork-barrel, graft, and corporate welfare? That is not helping the nation. It is destroying it, and there will be painful consequences someday for the growing fiscal and moral bankruptcy.
Posted by: d.a.n | January 21, 2006 11:00 AM
What we are experiencing in government today which puts everyone in the moodto say vote out incumbents must take place. What is the use of being in the mood to take action and then not do it.
1,003 people polled don't think their own lawmakers are corrupt. Why is that, because they voted for them and would prefer not to admit a mistake.If we go to the voting booth with the attitude that it's the other guy's lawmaker who is corrupt and not mine we will be cancelling each other out if we are not careful.
Posted by: steve smith | January 26, 2006 11:00 AM
Steve, that is why I believe registering previously non-voters who have no faith in the two party system are the key to a successful anti-incumbency effort.
Successful, does not mean removing all incumbents, it means removing enough of them so the remaining ones, put the American people and their agenda of peace, prosperity, and security ahead of special interests and lobbyists, who play the divide and conquer game in D.C.
Posted by: David R. Remer | January 27, 2006 10:53 AM
The currently non-registered voter will prove to be the elixir of our VOID movement.
Posted by: steve smith | January 27, 2006 4:13 PM