David Drucker writes for the Washington Examiner that economic gloom is helping to drive the 2016 presidential campaign.
In retrospect, the rise of “Feel the Bern” and “Make America Great Again” shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Voters haven’t felt optimistic about the direction of the country for at least seven years, an unprecedented streak for this telltale indicator of American public opinion. Combine that with the pervasive fear that things won’t get any better for their children, and the belief that no one in Washington is listening, and its no wonder Democrats are flirting with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders or that Republicans are considering ideological apostate Donald Trump.
“The wrong track is a national evaluation,” Republican pollster Frank Luntz said Monday. “Expectations for your children is a personal evaluation, and when that goes negative you have chaos.”
“It’s not just the right track/wrong track, but complete disgust with our institutions, that is driving our political debate,” Democratic pollster Margie Omero added. “This is probably why people are turning to outsiders, with little experience or policy gravitas.”
Sanders, an avowed socialist from Vermont who is not even a member of the Democratic Party, has taken liberal America by storm. He is packing arenas from coast to coast and slowly but surely creeping up on one-time presumed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump wasn’t a Republican until recently, and still holds many positions anathema to conservatives, such as support for tax hikes and government-run health care. But he has owned the GOP field since June.
