The Enthusaism Gap
Although I spend a lot of time talking to political figures from across Indiana, every once in a while I sit down and spent time with people outside of the political bubble. My criteria are they don’t have to be Ph.Ds in political science, but it helps if they pay attention to what’s going on around them. One of them is “George”. George is an older African-American gentleman, who is retired, but works part-time. He lives in the city of Indianapolis in a low-middle to working class neighborhood. We were having one of our regular chats, when I asked him what he was hearing out in the neighborhood.
He told me there was a lot of anxiety about jobs. He told me there were a lot more people out of work than he’s seen before and those people who did have jobs were worried about keeping them. He said he supports the President, but has a harder time convincing those who voted for him the first time to come out and vote Democratic this time around. He’s tried to convince them that the country did not get into this trouble overnight and it won’t be fixed overnight, however many of them are tired of waiting for the change they voted for. He said they are not ready to go vote Republican, but they are seriously considering staying home.
I asked him about some of the different story lines that have evolved over this campaign season, Dan Coats’ lobbyist history. Brad Ellsworth’s health care vote. Charlie White’s voting controversy, etc. He told me bluntly, nobody cared. They were concerned about jobs and taking care of their families, none of the other storylines the political class gets excited over really mattered. I asked him if it would make a difference if the President came to his door personally and asked him to be patient? He said it would work for him, but probably not for his neighbors.
This is the worst case scenario for Democrats in a mid-term election. Ask anyone in politics and they will tell you the worst thing you can have is a demoralized base. Republicans are fired up, albeit many of them are not as angry as they were last year, but the passion is still there. Some Democrats have adopted a strategy, at least in part, of playing on the fears and anxieties associated with the first Black President and subtly alluding playing the race card, by appealing to the “excitement and hope” that was felt when Obama got elected. I’m not sure how well that’s going to work. I asked George if that made a difference? He said “no”. His friends and neighbors care more about jobs.
And for the record, less than 2,000 people have taken advantage of early in-person voting in Marion County. I expected a lot more. I’m sure some other people did too.
