Brad Chism heard Republican Pollster Kelly Anne Conway’s remarks at a recent AAPC conference in NYC and found her quite convincing on a few points.

 For the twentieth straight month. jobs, economy, and unemployment are the #1 issues among American voters.  They consistently poll at 30 to 32% in choice of  8 or 9 issues.  Conway contends that people in charge aren’t listening. We can see the effects in the damage to the health care reform package.  The title sounds so positive –like campaign finance reform or banking reform— where it seems, on the surface, destined for overwhelming support.  But opponents were able to get swing voters to look at this legislation through a financial prism “What’s the price tag?”  “What does it cost me personally?”

Women, who make the decisions on how we spend two out of every three health care dollars in households, grew increasingly skeptic.  

Typically, after a large piece of legislation passes,  the opposition loses steam and those in the middle give the bill the benefit of the doubt. However, Conway contents that In the 2010 midterms  health care reform resistance will linger more in the minds of voters than is normal because the opposition framed the debate from a personal financial prism.

Conway also observed that in 2010 the mid term election themes will be affordability, fiscal sanity,  and domestic security.  The Ross Perot like approach to budgeting—a reduction of the complex to a few simple charts warning that disaster is near—is quite common among the average citizen.  When voters were recently asked a question about what concerns you most about the future 25 years from now, for the first time ever the majority of respondents said the  federal budget deficit (In the past it social security, national security, etc.)

As to 2010 elections, Conway agrees that this is an anti establishment, rather than an anti incumbent election. She sees a larger percentage of fiscally conservative voters turnout in 2010 turnout when compared to 2006, referring to them as the “silent majority.