Almost 60 percent of Americans said in an
NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that they are upset enough about at least one issue that they would be willing to stage a protest, but no single issue stood out to mobilize voters to act.
"As yet . . . these would-be picketers don't appear to have settled on a cause célèbre," said The Washington Post's top political blog,
The Fix.
"The 2014 election is basically a muddle of issues, devoid of anything that could really even accommodate mass protests."
The Post also noted that voter apathy has never been higher, with primary election turnout continuing its long-standing descent.
"How many people who say they're mad enough to protest will be mad enough to actually vote for some kind of change?" the Post said.
"As with lots of recent polling on Congress, what this poll does reveal is an American public that is very willing to express to pollsters its outrage at how poorly Congress is performing. We're still waiting for the day when that outrage translates into mass action.
"It did in 2009 and 2010. There's no evidence of a similar movement building with less than three months to go in the 2014 election."
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