Dustin: What’s Really Going On?

Dustin Hurst: Many have cast this as the year of the anti-incumbent, but I’m not sure I agree. Three incumbent (U.S. senators) have gone down, two Republicans and one Democrat. I think there is an anti-incumbent sentiment out there, but I also think its something more than that. The losses of Murkowski and Bennett show that its not an anti-Dem year, necessarily. Maybe talk radio is having a effect on voters because Bennett, Murk, and Specter voted for TARP, which most radio talkers opposed. Is it showing the power of the Tea Party? Maybe. There is something odd going on out there. The Tea Party has claimed at least three elections this year, though it has faltered along the way. Tea partiers ousted Bennett, Murk, and put Scott Brown into Teddy’s seat in Mass. Who really knows what’s going on? Maybe the people ousted are just really bad politicians who didn’t listen to their constituency … maybe?

Question: Based on what you’ve seen in primaries this year, can you really say what’s going on with voters around the nation?