Anyone with the political smarts of a 6-year-old has to chuckle when a Republican pollster proclaims that Americans are angrier than even and then reels off reasons why that are straight out of the GOP Wedge Issue Central.

Americans are incensed at Washington, Scott Rasmussen told CNN this week. That’s an easy one when the GOP isn’t in power.

Americans are angry because they think their bosses don’t respect them. Risky ground there, but you have to keep appealing to Joe The Plumber even if he doesn’t pay his taxes.

Americans are mad at Hollywood for the coarseness of the culture. Attacking the entertainment industry’s loose liberal values always works.

Except despite all his polling data, Rasmussen missed the real reason for the anger. Maybe it was expedient for him to ignore it, or maybe he’s so used to hanging with the well-heeled that he simply doesn’t notice.

The U.S. Census Bureau was kind enough to point it out just hours later, when it released new data that showed the current recession helped widen the income gap between the rich and poor in this country to an all-time high last year. Poverty jumped to an 11-year high, The Associated Press reported.

Still, there are those flummoxed at Main Street’s reaction to AIG bonuses and golden parachutes, writing it off as class envy inflamed by those pesky socialists.

There are those who can’t understand why health-care reform is not just a dollars-and-cents issue for increasing numbers of Americans who have little of either. It’s literally a life and death issue. A quarter of the state of Texas is uninsured, for Pete’s sake. Someone else want to argue, as Rasmussen did, that 85 percent of us are happy with our health care?

As for the coarse culture, almost three-quarters of Americans who have ever been married have been married only once. Doesn’t sound like we’re quite Sodom and Gomorrah yet. But just in case, let’s continue to protect marriage from “those people.”

So go ahead and default to we’re mad at Washington and Hollywood is causing moral decay. It’s nice framing in advance of next year’s election. Tell people they’re mad long enough and they’ll start to believe you.

Meanwhile, you’re not even hearing from many of the people with bona fide reasons to be mad because they’re too busy trying to eek out survival.

Copyright 2009 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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