Republicans made significant gains as state governors, U.S. Senators and members of the House. The primary reason was the public frustration with the poor economy. This brought out more white, older,and conservative-minded voters than had gone to the polls in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Younger, minority, and unmarried women did not show up to the extent they had in the last Presidential election. Also, Democrats had uncharacteristically won many seats in those prior elections, and many of those seats were in "marginal" districts, i.e. districts which usually or always had voted for Republicans in the past. So there were numerous offices where Democrats were very vulnerable under normal circumstances. With serious hard times for everyone, the considerable shift is regarded as all but inevitable.

While Republican politicians claim election results communicated overwhelming support, analysts say the issues actually played a very secondary role. Over and over again, I was told that the elections were not a mandate in favor of the conservative agenda. Voters dislike and distrust politicians of all parties. Rather, voters objected to the federal government's help to big business and banks, when the voters themselves feel like they've not been helped at all.

The real story was who voted, not what was at stake in terms of policy proposals. Exit polls showed support for health care reform is evenly divided for and against, and most voters don't want Social Security benefits to be cut to narrow the deficit. However, 23% of all voters were over 65 - a "staggering" number by one account. Moderates stayed home and conservatives came out. Younger voters, Hispanic and African-Americans still tend to support Democratic candidates, but far fewer of them actually showed up. Women generally support Democrats, but in this election they voted equally for candidates of both parties.

So, that's what happened and why. There is no single message from the American people, in spite of all the talking heads that tell you so. It's much more nuanced and subtle than that. Voters have diverse opinions and want different things from their government. The one thing they agree on is that they are suffering from the recession and want goverment to do something. But what exactly, and how, is still very much up for discussion.

'Til next time,

Your (Wo)Man in Washington