Voters are conservative when they are not unemployed

by YankeeJim | November 3, 2010 at 01:41 pm

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First American voters wanted government to help them. Two years go by and they are “conservative,” meaning they don’t want so much government help. It wasn’t possible for government to do anything in that short amount of time except: 1) pass legislation on healthcare that is a down payment on the prospect that you might be guaranteed affordable healthcare by the end of Obama’s first term, 2) printing and passing money around to Wall Street and the large automakers, 3) tearing up every major road and bridge in America to employ construction workers, and 4) ensuring that states and local governments could hire teachers and public safety personnel that they could not otherwise afford.

I surely had my doubts about much of this and wrote about it in my book, Smart Data with the hope of influencing the Obama administration and Congress, Republicans and Democrats. But, only some Chief Information Officers have read it. I did my part and it is good reading with implications for the future.

So, I added this headline because I think “conservatism” often means people don’t care about their neighbors as much as hanging on to what they have.

“Election 2010: Polls show more voters consider themselves conservative

By Krissah Thompson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 3, 2010; 2:30 PM

As politicians and commentators debate the meaning of Tuesday's elections, one thing is clear: Conservatives are back.

Exit polls in key states showed a surge of voters identifying themselves as conservative. Nationally, the electorate was 9 percent more conservative than in 2006 and 7 percent more so than in 2008. Poll findings in swing states mirrored those numbers, with Ohio's electorate showing an 11 percent uptick in conservative voters and Wisconsin's a 10 percent increase.

Pollsters had been predicting a stronger enthusiasm on the right for much of the year, and the conservative base did not disappoint.

"I'm not surprised that the center wouldn't have turned out in this election," said Andra Gillespie, a professor of political science at Emory University. "All of the rhetoric and the tone indicated this was a race where they would not be engaged."”