Voters carry anxiety, disappointment to the polls
The millions of Americans voting in midterm elections Tuesday were not always sure what they wanted, or even whom. But many knew they were unhappy - uneasy about the economy, frustrated with the direction of the country and dissatisfied with politics.
On an Election Day that seemed a long way from 2008, disappointment was the theme."I'd like to find somebody to blame," said Kimberly Abrudan, a customer service manager who had voted at a Delaware charter school for Democrat Chris Coons for Senate. "It would make things a lot easier. But I'm not convinced that it's any one man."Abrudan said she voted for Barack Obama and felt let down that he had not been able to bridge the partisan divide and bring Americans together. If she could speak to the president in private, she conceded, "I might shake him around a bit."The sentiment was not hard to find across the country in an election that took place against a backdrop of persistently high unemployment, no sign of real improvement in the economy and politics roiled by division.