One hypothesis is that the the Republican party has voted itself out of its majority in the House, and possibly in the Senate and Governors' mansions, by creating an electorate of people on food stamps and unemployment who vote.
The question is whether unemployed and underemployed people who typically vote Republican will vote Republican in 2014. You might say that's voting against self-interest, unless you understand that in the South, for example, you need to consider your family's interests first. That means that if your brother or uncle works for BP you will not vote or speak against BP.
That being said, the 2014 meme should be: Lost your unemployment benefits? Lost food stamps? Vote.
More below the elegant cheese doodle.
So I started looking for substantiation of the hypothesis.
In July 2013, The Atlantic published an article whose authors researched the question of what % of each Congressional district was food stamp recipients.
The authors asserted that the "Republicans tend to represent plenty of food stamp recipients, but unlike many Democrats, not nearly so many that they'd ever have to worry about them at the polls. "
But that was July, and this is January, and it's cold outside. Also, I disagree with the authors' analysis of the data.
Then there're people who receive unemployment compensation. Public Policy Polling did a December poll which showed that
Anywhere from 63-68% of voters in the five districts support continuing unemployment
benefits with only 28-34% ok with cutting them. 79-85% of Democrats in the districts
support keeping extended benefits in place, but so do anywhere from 58-64% of
independents and 48%-60% of Republicans. "This is a rare issue in this polarized political climate where we find agreement across party lines."
Conclusions:
1. We need to push that meme.
2. We need to see more polling on these voters.
3. We need to get more people registered to vote.
4. The ice is still melting.