… So what explains the apparent repudiation of the president’s party despite an improving economy under his watch? In a column written shortly before the election, political scientist Lynn Vavreck argued that midterms are not about the economy – they are referendums on the president. But this tells only part of the story. In fact, exit polls from Tuesday indicate that 45 percent of voters said their views toward the president played no part in their midterm vote. So what did drive their vote? Evidently the economy! It was cited as the most important issue for 45 percent of the voters, eclipsing concern for foreign relations, immigration and health care. However, of those voters citing this issue, 50 percent voted Republican versus 48 percent for Democrats. CONT.
Matthew Dickinson (Middlebury College), usnews.com