A story in today's NYT illustrates the point. Voters tend to be motivated by the economy (pocketbook voting) more than other factors, and vote against who ever is in power if the economy sours. What got Democrats voted into office in 2008, works against them in 2010. So, what happens if the economy is still bad in 2012?
This also complicates the idea that voters send messages about which policies (health care, education, climate change, gay marriage, etc...) with their votes. Perhaps its just about the economy, and everything else is secondary.
