Americans Don't Think the Federal Government Has 'Consent of the Governed'

Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012 - Ross Perot in 1992 and John Anderson in 1980 garnered exceptionally high levels of support.  (By PATRICK H. CADDELL And DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN, Wall Street Journal)  The United States is in the midst of what we would both call a prerevolutionary moment, and there is widespread support for fundamental change in the system. An increasing number of Americans are now searching beyond the two parties for bold and effective leadership.

A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted earlier this month found that "just 17% of likely U.S. voters think that the federal government today has the consent of the governed," while an extraordinary 69% "believe the government does not have that consent." 

2012

• The Democratic Jobs Debate As Mass Denial (Jonathan Chait, The New Republic) But his plan needs to be understood as a political strategy, not as a legislative strategy. The point of it is to propose something that is popular and which Obama can blame Republicans for blocking. There is no upside in blaming the opposition for blocking a bill that voters don't want to pass.
• Margin Favoring Repeal Hits 20 Points (By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON, The Weekly Standard/The Blog) If this news weren’t bad enough for the White House’s current occupant, independent voters are even less fond of Obamacare than voters as a whole. By a tally of 58 to 37 percent, independents support repeal. Among independents who feel “strongly” (either way), 49 percent support repeal, while only 21 percent oppose it — nearly one-half to barely one-fifth.
• Jay Carney: Obama helping African-Americans (By REID J. EPSTEIN, Politico)
• Cornyn: 'WH wishes' Huntsman would run as Independent (By Michael O'Brien, The Hill/Twitter Room) Cornyn, one of the GOP's campaign gurus who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), mused on Twitter that it would be in President Obama's interest for Huntsman to seek the presidency as an Independent candidate.
• Huntsman, best candidate for a third party (By LZ Granderson, CNN) But then I look at the field of Republican candidates and I just feel trapped, as our election process has become less about which candidate you prefer and more like which limb you want to cut off.
• Obama appeals to black voters amid criticism from lawmakers, rights leaders (in Cleveland Plain Dealer) "And it's important for us to make sure that we're following through on those commitments, even if it's slow and frustrating sometimes."