Life is Awful in Iowa and New Hampshire and the Koch Brothers and/or Mexico is to Blame.

Eli,

The unemployment rate in Iowa is 3.4%. The unemployment rate in New Hampshire is 3.1%. These are the states that have glommed onto Mrs. Clinton's (the felon), Mr. Sander's (the socialist) and Trump's (the bloviating ignoramus) claims that life is horrible and the reason is the banks, Wall Street, Citizen's United, the Koch Brothers, the Mexicans, the Chinese, the Japanese and the Muslims. It's an odd mix of nationalism, socialism and racism.

David Harsanyi at the Federalist wrote this. His focus is on Sanders, but you could insert Trump or Clinton instead of Sanders and it still works.

Events can always alter the dynamics of American politics, but right now Sanders represents the natural trajectory of liberalism. Where else did people think eight years of relentless fearmongering about the inequities and corruption of capitalism would lead? You can’t keep blaming everything on the inherent racism in America and not expect your party to radicalize. You can’t accuse oil companies of bloodlust and not mainstream the idea of nationalizing the energy sector. You can’t blame every economic tribulation on Wall Street and bankers and the Koch Brothers and then be surprised a major candidate ends up railing against “speculators” and argues that the entire business model of modern banking is a “fraud.”

Reap what you sow.

Still, there is something about this dog, that don't hunt. Unemployment ratios far below the national average, and near what economists call full employment. Is the message of things are awful and the millionaires and billionaires or the Mexicans the reason why really resonating with the fully employed, or is there something else going on. I think it's something else, but what do I know.

Bill