Democrat attacks on business fail

Kimberley Strassel:

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The attacks have largely washed over GOP candidates. Seventeen points down, the Strickland campaign has now abandoned its Wall Street complaints. Mr. Toomey continues to lead Democrat Joe Sestak. The trend is so widespread that Hotline recently declared: "Dems find anti-Wall-Street flops."

One reason for the failure has been the ease with which Republicans have been able to shift the debate back to their opponents' toxic records. But the fact that many GOP candidates are actually touting their business experience suggests they are reading a turn in the polls. A recent survey, from Independent Women's Voice, found 63% of independents said they'd prefer a businessman who has new ideas to an experienced politician. A Bloomberg poll this week found that 77% of U.S. investors find Mr. Obama "anti-business."

What's behind this shift? Call it a supercharged dose of Democrats and failing liberal governance. As Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist notes, the country has been witness to "pure, distilled government." It has been led by an administration staffed with career politicians and academics who have insisted that government can solve all. It hasn't worked. "When Washington fails, what's the alternative?" asks Mr. Norquist. "It's people with real-life experience, who can do real-live things." Business folk have real-life experience.

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I think some of it has to do with the Democrat spending binge. Voters instinctively know that businesses have to balance their books or they go out of business. They are looking for people who will hold government to the same standard.