"It’s Not Just the War, Stupid"

David Moore:

If we had to boil the election to just one phrase, it might well be the one used frequently by Carol Shea-Porter in the 1st Congressional District in New Hampshire. No one expected her to beat popular incumbent Republican Jeb Bradley. Her television ads were sparse, and they were always positive about what she would do—not one attack ad about her opponent. In her appearances in homes throughout the district, her closing phrase always elicited a strongly positive reaction: “I’ll go to Washington to represent the other 99 percent of us.” With its indirect reference to the Bush tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the upper 1 percent in income, the promise encapsulated the frustration of voters who felt the Republicans were just not representing them anymore on a whole range of issues.