Do
your own interview of the experts.
1 It
looks like this year there's less anti-government sentiment than in recent
years, do you think being a politician is now acceptable to voters?
JEFF
GREENFIELD replies:
I
think compared to the last decade or more there's less politician-bashing
than there was before. It reached a high point for me in 1996, when during
his acceptance speech, Robert Dole never mentioned the fact that he served
36 years in the national legislature. You would've thought that at other times
that would have been a fairly impressive point, but they felt that the country,
and particularly the Republican Party, was so anti-government that he just
kind of went from being a World War II veteran to running for President.
It's
a combination of the fact that the electorate is more content or less angry
than it's been in a long time. Also that the party that traditionally bashes
the government--the Republican Party--is running the Congressional operation.
And it seems a little odd for them to be bashing the legislative branch of
the government they now control.
I
think that it's a throwback to the old days when you see candidates
walking down, especially the Capitol, with their sportcoats over their shoulder.
Ask JEFF GREENFIELD
Ask KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON
Ask PAUL TAYLOR
Ask BOB SQUIER
Ask ALEX CASTELLANOS