60 Minutes: Newton, Iowa: Anger in the Heartland

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Elections: Anger In The Land

Newton, Iowa: Anger in the Heartland

(CBS) Two years ago, most Americans voted for change, and if the polls are to be believed, they're about to do it again.

In the latest CBS News/New York Times Poll, 80 percent said they want most incumbents out of Congress regardless of whether that incumbent is a Democrat or Republican.

There's a grim mood among people who were counting on a recovery that has now fallen flat. The economists who decide such things say that the Great Recession ended in June 2009. But since then, we've lost another half million jobs - which helps explain why there is so much anger in the land. We saw a lot of it right in the middle of the country, among the people who've endured the recession longer than anyone.

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And that is the backdrop for Tuesday's election. In our national poll, we asked folks what the most important issue is in America: fifty four percent said jobs; health care came in second at seven percent. Only one percent said the war.

Newton's congressional district is bipartisan country. It voted for George Bush in 2004 and then for President Obama. But now Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell is fighting for his job. He has been reelected six times, but this week his race against Republican Brad Zaun is too close to call.

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read the story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/28/60minutes/main6999868.shtml

watch the video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7009215n