Governor Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) said that Pennsylvania Democrats lost key House and Senate races in the midterm election because “voters don’t always vote on logical reasons,” adding that Democrats “understand” the reason for voters’ “anger” and “it’s pretty hard to quarrel with.” His comments were made while participating in a conference call sponsored by the Center for American Progress (CAP) about the need for Congress to extend unemployment benefits.
CNSNews.com asked Rendell, “Since many of these issues are likely to come up in the next Congress, I’m interested to hear why you think so many key races in the House and Senate were lost by Pennsylvania Democrats this past election?”
Rendell responded, “Well, because people don’t always vote on logical reasons. Emotion drives voters particularly when they have reason to be angry and frustrated. If you lost your job or lost your house or lost your 401k, you had every reason to be angry and frustrated and when you are, you have a tendency to blame the people who are in office and that’s true whether it’s a Republican incumbent or a Democratic incumbent.”
He continued, “In Pennsylvania, most of our incumbents were Democrats; we control the Congressional delegation 13 to 6 and a number of those were Democratic pickups in districts that were Republican registration and so it’s very difficult to hold in the atmosphere that exists today and again, although it’s frustrating to us as Democrats who believe in the things we’re doing, we understand the reason for that anger and it’s pretty hard to quarrel with.”
