A new study out has some excellent numbers indicating that senior voters are getting fed-up with the government’s spending spree:

Economy Spending
Should spend LESS to reduce deficit:   51%
Should spend MORE to help economy:    40%

Size of Government
Smaller with lower taxes:    70%
Larger with higher taxes:    20%

Role of Government
Gvmt is doing too many things that should be left to private sector:    53%
Gvmt should do more to solve problems and meet needs of people:    43%

Concern about current level of spending and debt:
Very concerned:    68%
Somewhat concerned:    22%
Not too/not at all concerned:    9%

Seniors believe that cost is the largest problem with health care, but are opposed to the health care reform:
Support:    39% (25% strongly)
Oppose:    48% (40% strongly)

Finally, Republicans edge out Democrats as the seniors’ choice for who is best equipped to handle problems (34% - 31%).  But, that doesn’t negate the fact that another survey found that nearly a majority of voters would elect someone new over re-electing their current Representative/Senator (38% re-elect - 49% new person).

I wrote in late August that the changing political environment meant good news for Republicans, but not necessarily good news for Republican incumbents.  In fact, last Tuesday’s election indicates that incumbents of both parties should be fearful of losing their jobs.

A recent article in the Politico highlights my concern:

Of all the numbers swirling around this week Capitol Hill this week – health care whip counts, CBO estimates, winning and losing margins in Virginia, New York and New Jersey – one stands out from the rest: 10.2 percent.

That’s the national unemployment rate. And lawmakers from both parties know that, if it doesn’t go down dramatically before next November, they could be adding to it themselves.

“I think anytime unemployment is high and people are concerned about their jobs, the economy, incumbents on both sides of the aisle need to be concerned,â€� Republican Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said Friday. “What people care most about is food, clothing and shelter. Period. …. When food, clothing and shelter are sort of impacted, their base lives are impacted, it definitely sours the public as it should. Usually the party in power takes the brunt of that, but it affects all incumbents.”

In August, I predicted that growing angst regarding government spending, and the ever growing unemployment number would put many incumbents at risk.  I agree with Senator Corker - when a voter is facing unemployment yielding an inability to afford the essentials, then they are angry at whomever is in power for not “fixing” the problem.  In fact, the loses that Democrats face in 2010 are largely their fault for pushing the stimulus as the be-all-fix-all solution.  Clearly it was not.

Democrats aren’t the only ones at risk.  There are several dozen Republicans that voted for the Bush stimulus.  This makes it difficult to take a stand against government intervention.