EDITORIAL ROUNDUP : The Pennsylvania Message

WOFFORD MANDATE: MIDDLE CLASS DEMANDS RECOGNITION: If Wofford’s victory represents a wake-up call for America, as we think it does, it is one directed at incumbents who have spent too long feeding at the public trough and have lost touch with the day-to-day struggle most Americans face raising a family and paying the bills. It is a wake-up call to the politicians who have created a worry-free life for themselves and offer empty palliatives to the genuine concerns that Americans have about their jobs, pensions, crime, getting sick and the future.

--The Harrisburg (Pa.) Patrio t

THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN A WAKE-UP CALL: . . . The Wofford-Thornburgh race may not be as clear a referendum . . . as some might think. There were indications that voters also were venting disgust and anger with Washington politicians and the lack of leadership on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Although he was the incumbent, Wofford ran as an outsider and linked Thornburgh, a former two-term governor who served as Bush’s attorney general, to the President’s policies and to the mess in Washington.

--The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Time s

MESSAGE TO BUSH: Now, perhaps, President Bush will recognize that the nation’s ailing economy really does need his earnest attention. . . . For too long President Bush has seemed to be indifferent to the declining economy as he has concentrated on foreign affairs, where he has scored some spectacular achievements. His recent drop in the public opinion polls, and now the Thornburgh defeat, indicate that the public will accept this no longer.

--The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatc h

ECONOMY SCARING PUBLIC, GOP: . . . Politically, all that matters is who’s President when a recession-year election occurs. So the Democrats should not be trying now to figure out how to get political mileage out of the situation. They should be trying to figure out how to put together a message that results in some post-election action should they win, that allows them to claim a mandate. And in their contest among themselves, they should be judged according to who gets beyond the general and opportunistic, and who gets specific and programmatic.

--The Dayton (Ohio) Daily New s

WHINING WHILE WINDS ARE HOWLING: Like President Hoover in the late 1920s, Mr. Bush seems unable to grasp the seriousness of the economic problems weighing down on families. He calls for capital gains tax cuts to help the rich and whines about why consumers are such dolts that they don’t even know they should be spending money to celebrate the recovery. Usually one to sway with the political winds, Mr. Bush seems not to be aware of the hurricane brewing. The gusts are picking up while the captain stays hunkered down in his cabin.

--The Atlanta Constitutio n