The role of ideologies and the economy in the 2010 congressional election

This article examines some of the forces that shaped the outcome of the 2010 midterm election. While the main purpose of the article was to show that the Democrats are failing to take responsibility for their recent losses, the points that stood out most to me were 1. The pattern of liberal activism followed by conservative backlash (as Will mentioned in his research paper presentation today) and 2. The idea that the economy had everything to do with the results of this election (what my research paper talked about).

Cook uses exit polls to show that the public's view of the role of the federal government has changed from 2008 to 2010. He shows that while a majority supported more government intervention in 2008, this number dropped significantly in 2010. This supports Will's idea that periods of liberal politics are followed by a conservative backlash. Politics of the last century suggests that our country may be trapped in a chronic ideological seesaw.

Cook also argues that Democrats failed to address the most important issue--the economy--and instead focused on more "trivial" issues such as climate change policy and health care. While I wouldn't agree that these issues are unimportant, it does seem that the economy is the most pressing issue in the minds of the citizens. My paper analyzed this issue in depth and showed how voters' perceptions about the economy did not match the actual condition of the economy. Perhaps if the Democrats had focused on altering voters' economic perceptions they would have suffered much milder losses in 2010.