I regret to say that I live inside the Beltway and work for an environmental nonprofit. While there is no real shame in either of these two facts, they do make me very much unlike most people in America -- a point that is driven home every time I get outside the Beltway for a vacation, camping trip, business conference, what-have-you.
Intellectually, I realize most Americans don't spend all day every day worried about national environmental policies or trying to figure out how to solve global warming. I know that.
Even so, it is typically quite unsettling to confront the disconnect between what's important in my day-to-day life (like taking action to cut our global warming pollution) and what matters to most people (like making a paycheck and enjoying life).
All of that said, I just got back from a week in Nags Head, NC, and here are a few observations I had during my vacation:
* Not once during my vacation did I encounter anyone who volunteered a thought about national politics or about the national economy. I spent some time with several "locals" -- from the bartender at the local beach club where we stayed to the kayaking guide who took us out on the Alligator River kayaking tour to the Park Ranger who shared some history about the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. And I had shorter conversations with a couple of dozen other folks -- the woman behind the counter at Goombay's restaurant, the man who took care of our golf clubs, the fellow parents of young kids at the pool. At no time did any of them offer a thought about President Obama, Congress, the 2010 elections, the national economy, or anything else that even resembled a national or political issue -- even when I mentioned I was from Washington, DC, and that I worked for an environmental nonprofit.
* The last two years down in the Outer Banks, it seemed that every other beach house from Corolla to Hatteras was for sale or in foreclosure. This year, there were many, many fewer for sale signs. When I mentioned that to the bartender and the kayaking guide, all I could get was that things seemed pretty steady. They didn't offer a strong reaction either way.
* Traffic south on I95 and east on I64 was jammed. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to make a drive than normally takes about 5, maybe 5 1/2 hours. It took us almost a half an hour just to get across the bridge onto the Outer Banks. If traffic = vacationers, it certainly seemed like there were more people heading to the beach than I have ever seen in my roughly 15 years of summer vacations on the Outer Banks.
* There are always Confederate flags on the roads when you head south or west of Northern Virginia. But, this year there seemed to be more of them. I want to say that for every 10 American flags I saw unfurled, there was maybe 1 Confederate flag. As a person of New England descent, this always unnerves me, even as I admire and love much of the southern culture.
* With only one exception, I didn't see any political yard signs or banners and only saw a handful of political bumper stickers on cars (one of which was the McCain Palin bumper sticker with McCain's name removed). The one political sign I saw was a few homemade banners as you enter Buxton heading south along Route 12 attacking the local Audubon Society chapter for opposing development in and around nesting grounds for piping plovers. Those were some angry signs, but they were the only ones that caught my eye -- nothing on the health care bill, nothing about stimulus, nothing about jobs or Obama being a Muslim or anything of the kind.
Overall, it was very hard to get a read on the people and get my fingers on the pulse of the local community during my trip. There seemed to be a kind of even-keeled, steady-as-she-goes vibe. People weren't wearing huge smiles on their faces, but they weren't grouchy or down. They were pleasant and eager to help you with an order or to answer questions, but they weren't giddy about it.
I don't know what this means, but the hot rhetoric and fierce debates that rage inside the Beltway and on the nightly reports on Fox and even MSNBC seem to dissipate almost entire the moment you leave the Beltway.
I'm sure the vibe is quite a bit different if you live in hard hit manufacturing communities in the Midwest or in places where the foreclosure and unemployment rates remain high. The apparent spike in the number of Confederate flags seemed noteworthy, though I really can't speak to what it might mean.
I realize that the mainstream media narrative is that America is disgruntled and angry about Washington and ready to throw all the bums out. But, all in all, if my trip to the Outer Banks is any indication, I didn't see the signs of anxiety or frustration that seemed more apparent in 2008 and even last year when many people talked about the deteriorating local real estate market and were more open to sharing their concerns about the economy.
This may not be worth anything and it's only one person's observations. But, FWIW, if there is to be a rebellion or backlash against the Dems this fall, I didn't get the sense that the wave will start along coastal North Carolina.