A vast 89 percent in New Jersey and 85 percent in Virginia said they're worried about the direction of the nation's economy in the next year; 56 percent and 52 percent, respectively, said they're "very" worried about it.
Voters who expressed the highest levels of economic discontent heavily favored the Republican candidates in both states – underscoring the challenge Obama and his party may face in 2010 if economic attitudes don't improve. The analogy is to 1994, when nearly six in 10 voters said the economy was in bad shape, and they favored the out-of-power Republicans by 26 points, helping the GOP to a 52-seat gain and control of Congress for the first time in 42 years.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
There is only one way to save a Democratic Congress - stop trying to build better bubbles than the Republicans and start a full throated Keynsian response to this Bush Depression with a Federal Jobs program that will make workers secure while they create economy expanding infrastructure!
For those of you fooled by the rhetoric surrounding the last stimulus - the states are spending that money. It is keeping some states from bankruptcy likely but it isn't making consumers secure in their jobs.
Neither will productivity growth fueled by massive treasury subsidies of cars or appliances make consumers secure. The manufacturers are geting rid of some inventory with those programs but they know exactly how short a time those good times will last and they are not hiring new factory workers for such programs.
There is plenty of infrastructure to build. Democrats can start appropriating money for directly hiring workers to build roads, schools, highways, railroads and wind farms.
The only alternative: the Congress seated in three years will have a vastly diminished Democratic majority. If you think finding votes for a full throated and necessary Keynsian response to our current deflationary spiral is tough now - wait till after 2010!
Jobless recoveries are old hat now. Nothing new - and nothing that will be rewarded!