Outrage Fatigue

I'm a Republican and I read a lot of political news and commentary every day.

You can't really blame me for thinking that Mitt Romney was going to win in 2012.  After all, each day brought a new outrage in the right-wing media.   There were so many things wrong with Obama...the economy, the "You Didn't Build That" comment, etc, etc, etc.

Surely the public saw ALL of this and was equally outraged, right?  No way this guy is getting re-elected, right?

Final result:  the President gets 51 percent of the national vote and a sizable victory in the Electoral College.

You can probably discount a lot of the immediate analysis of the election by Republicans (including me) because we were in a state of shock for multiple weeks.  We were pretty confident.

I am a political activist, and I'm engaged in the political process in a more frequent, intense way than most voters.   The November election was a nice reality check for me. 

There is a conservative (and liberal) entertainment complex that serves up a daily dose of outrage and over-the-top rhetoric.   But I think activists need to realize that, in most cases, the political types are just talking to each other and not to a broader audience of voters. Most of us know this in our heart-of-hearts...there is a popular meme on Facebook that I've seen posted by both Republican and Democrat friends:   "Your insightful political posts of Facebook have changed my mind --  I'm voting for your guy!  said no one ever."

I'd like to see more political polling center on how much independent, swing voters really care about an issue.  When pressed for an answer, I'm sure voters will tell a pollster what they think about the fiscal cliff, gun control, the return of John Boehner as speaker, etc.  But do they really care all that much?  How intensely do they feel about their answer?

I just don't think a lot of Americans went through their holidays worrying daily about the fiscal cliff or whether John Boehner would be deposed. 

Here in the 2013, the ol' outrage machine is cranked up again.  But I just find myself wondering how many voters outside of the engaged activists are really thinking a lot about specific issues and whether it has an impact on their perception of their leaders...or if these issues will actually impact their votes.

So President Obama may issue an executive order to implement new firearms regulations.   Outraged yet?

I know my Democratic friends in Iowa don't like Republican Secretary Of State Matt Schultz over his support of voter ID or his attempts to purge voter rolls of non-citizens.  But does that translate into victory for his opponent?

My theory:   I think the 24-hour news cycle actually overloads citizens with outrage and we're just fatigued.  I am a happy person and can personally testify that constant anger is much more exhausting.