THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Americans are set in Tuesday's midterm elections to make their president and Democrats pay heavily for their failure to stem unemployment amid gathering fears that the American dream has moved beyond reach for a generation.
In poll after poll in the long run-up to the midterm elections, voters have said that the economy was their main concern. Unemployment has risen by 20 per cent under Mr Obama, remaining stuck on or close to 9.6 per cent for since May 2009.
Julietta Strauss, of New York, lost her administrative job with the US census bureau in March, and has struggled to find work since.
More and more people were taking an "apocalyptic view" of America's prospects, she said. "The general word on the street seems to be that middle-class jobs are disappearing, and while there's an increasing tendency for the rich to get richer, middle-class wages are stagnant," she said.
At the Tailhook Tavern in Philadelphia, a city visited by Mr Obama in his final campaign swing, Joseph Carroll said he had not had steady work for two years. "The economy sucks. They talk about trickle down but we don't see it round here," said the 44-year-old, who specialises in fire suppressants in new constructions. "They bailed out the banks, they are making billions in profits again, they are making millions in bonuses again, but they don't want to lend to people who want to build up businesses." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Jon Swaine in New York | Monday, November 01, 2010
