Political Fatigue?

A lot has been said about why Donald Trump won the election. From the right's growing anger and frustration to the left's bankrupting shame language I only seem to hear from and about the polarized camps. I have a theory about the moderate camps though, something I think is very sensible but not something that I have heard much about this year. I have never studied politics so I don't know what its proper term is but I will call it 'political fatigue'. It's the idea that the longer one party stays in power the less appealing it appears to the middle ground camps, the people who are not sold heart and soul to any particular political party.

Every political leader promises the world during the election process but no political leader can fulfill those promises, partly because they promised too much and partly because every time you cast a vision the people you cast it to have their own understanding of what you're promising that is different from what the vision caster meant to communicate. Obama has been the president for 8 years. During his presidency he has made a lot of progress in line with his promises and agendas but America is still deeply divided on so many contours that many can rightly ask "what has he done for me and my group?" Not enough. There is still poverty. There is still racism. The economy is still bad. The war is still happening. Christianity is still under siege or still too strong depending on who you ask. "Yes you can!" didn't materialize in a practical sense for a lot of people and so the vote for "more of the same" loses its luster while the vote for "change" (Obama's cry after 8 years of Clinton) becomes more attractive.

Its the same thing that happened here in Canada with Stephen Harper's Conservative party. They were just as lean, mean, and effective as they ever were but the country voted for Trudeau, not because Harper had become ineffective but because he had run the nation for 9 years and the middle camps had grown tired of his policies and wanted change.

Every political party, no matter how benevolent or effective, is a human construct and so will be imperfect. Both left and right styles of government have their pros and cons (temporary as they may be) and so the affections of the voters shift to whichever they think will solve their problems.

I have to wonder if Trump's divisive tactics were strategic with this in mind, hoping that after 8 years of left wing politics most states would side with a right wing candidate if a sufficient polarizing force could be applied. Now that America is very polarized (more than usual) the idea of voter fatigue is masked by all manner of name calling and accusations about the left lecturing, moralizing, reforming, and interfering too much and the right having gone hateful and insane.

Lord have mercy on us all.