By RUPERT CORNWELL [Independent] – Far from being a springboard, the combined Democratic victories of 2006 and 2008 probably took the party to a high-water mark in Congress from which some decline was inevitable.

Since then George W Bush, that lightning rod of national discontent, has vanished from the scene. The Democrats’ decline has also been speeded by the performance of Mr Obama, who has simultaneously managed to disappoint much of the liberal base while alienating the centrist independents whose support carried him to power.

A President supposed to be a master communicator has proved a surprisingly poor one from the Oval Office. Liberals believe he has been too timid in his reforms, while independents feel he has been, if anything, too liberal.

But something else is at work too: a volatility not seen in US politics since the 1940s. The last two Republican midterm surges, in 1966 and 1994, followed long periods of Democratic dominance on Capitol Hill. This time, it would seem, Democrats have been turfed out after just four years in charge. If Mr Obama were on the ballot against a generic Republican, he too would probably have been given his marching orders.

The biggest reason for this volatility is the economy. Travel anywhere in the country, and you find anger, confusion and fear among voters – a sense that the US may have entered a period of long-term decline for which neither party has the answer.

Americans are impatient too. Not only do they want answers – they want them to be fast and visible. Yes, Republican laissez-faire policies may have got the country into a mess. But Mr Obama has had two years to get the country out, and all people see is anaemic growth, high unemployment and record deficits. The Tea Party is a measure of this frustration. Whether the movement now takes root, or is defanged and absorbed into the Republican Party, is the great question of US politics.

Continued at the Independent | More Chronicle & Notices.