The enormous gap between the excitement in Washington about the return
of the WHCA weekend and the ongoing anxiety of voters hit us hard this
week as we watched focus groups of voters conducted by longtime
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.

On Tuesday night, Lake talked to a group of “high -information”
Democrats scattered around the country over a Zoom call while we watched
on mute. This appeared to be one of the more financially well-off focus
groups we’ve seen this year, but like the others, these voters were
defined by their disgust. 

When asked the first word that popped into their mind about how things
are going in the country, here’s what they said: “frustrated,”
“disbelief,” “aggravated,” “discouraged,” “unsure,” “worrying,”
“resigned,” “frightened.” The only positive words offered were “better”
and “OK.”

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
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