Call me naive/partisan/insulated/etc., but I still can't figure out what people are voting against.

[BayouBengal07]

This is supposed to be a referendum on the president, and not necessarily an endorsement of the Geriatric Oligarchy Party. OK, but where's the beef?

The economy is improving; of course the long climb out of the Great Recession has been quicker for Wall St. than it has been for employment, a lagging indicator in any economy, but you mean to tell me a majority of the American people now trust Republicans on the economy? On what grounds?

We soundly rejected Cowboy Diplomacy in 2006 and 2008 after two failed wars, and reelected the president a year after removing our troops from Iraq. You mean to tell me a majority of the American people now trust Republicans on foreign affairs? What for? We're not "tough enough"? Do we trust Republicans to win a war in two countries we cannot control, with allies we cannot trust, who are fighting a religious civil war we cannot understand? Are we supposed to go to war with Russia? The Washington Post opinion section is almost daily filled with pearl-clutching articles about how scarily "detached" the president is, because supposedly the preferable norm is to flip our shit and lash out without thinking; that's leadership. Do voters agree?

Opposition to the Affordable Care has slowed to a trickle, at least measured by press treatment. And now, a year into the employer mandate implementation, Republicans will have to explain how to replace the coverage of millions who have ACA-backed coverage - at least, I hope they'll have to. That hinges on covered persons knowing they're actually benefitting from the program, and I'd bet a good chunk of them are the "I've never asked for a government handout" types on SS disability/Medicare/etc.

So, what exactly is the complaint against the president? I understood 2006 - bogged down in an Iraqi civil war, fresh off the response to Katrina, spending 2005 trying to privatize Social Security...all reasons to flip the legislature. But in 2014 I just don't see a) what's going wrong, or at least b) how it's the president's fault. What's gnawing at the average voter?

[barbtries]

1. he's the wrong color for a president?

i don't know. it isn't rational. it isn't about what's good for the country.

[KeepItReal]

2. Fox "News" disinformation has them thinking the sky is falling

In their bizzaro world, you would not know about the economic recovery, reduced deficit, and lower unemployment.

Obamacare is not the Affordable Care Act, either.

[still_one]

3. That is the medias bullshit. Let's face it, most of the states up this election are red states.

ever since nixon's scorched earth policy, the red states have gone republican. They didn't appreciate Johnson's civil right act, which also speaks volumes

[BayouBengal07]

4. Speaking of the media's bullshit...

They're now pushing the meme that the "mainstream" GOP beat back the TEA Party this year. But that's only because the TEA Party pulled the party as a whole right, and the media stopped covering that.

Think about if the media had given Joni Ernst's batshit views on the "UN's Agenda 21" the same treatment they gave the "legitimate rape" comments. Crickets this year.

[still_one]

5. that is for sure

[WhiteTara]

6. They're voting against skin color. nt

[underpants]

7. They don't like Mondays

That is a bit of an obscure music reference - I don't like Mondays

The public is lead around by their nose by the media. He is a great guy and we climbed out of a hole in 5 years everyone thought it would take 10.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. The black Muslim in the White House who brought ebola

from his home country of Kenya!

[kairos12]

9. These people are chasing their hats in the wind and screaming at the breeze at the same time.

[CANDO]

10. When you don't toot your own horn....

The opposition defines you. Why did the Dems not tout their successes? WHY why why? All we've heard for the past year is the psychotic rantings of the knuckle dragging right wing. If people don't realize that if there's no pushback for that, it settles in to the public's contentiousness.