There is a lot more “not letting go” after the 2008 election than any others in my memory. But the feeling of not being represented is growing in America. Some, if not a good portion, of the discontent comes from that feeling that has been brewing for the past 3 election cycles. Ross Perot hit on something in 92 that went unresolved. Had he not been such a clown and had he not been destroyed by the GOP, he may have won. Bill Clinton did a decent job to take people's minds off of it but our nation remained divided. Then came Bush and our nation divided even more. Now, here we sit still divided, with an economy in ruins and a President that is a mystery at best. The collective American psyche is paranoid, uncertain, and afraid – and not because of what Olbermann and Limbaugh tell us. This goes much deeper than that.

I think the electoral map speeks volumes in this respect.

For the long term, the period is around 20-25 years, psychologically. As I noted about this on another thread, this is also the suitable max length for things like government (or corporate) bonds (longest term, that is), length of time things like bankruptcies should be on record, the length of time for a serious jail or prison term for a serious crime, and the longest term for elected or other government offices (including, in our nation's example, Justices of the Supreme Court and other judicial officials — outlasting the time all others should be limited to being in office, for shorter terms). To name one other pertinent example, it is the time period for which income from property or business owned by private parties should be compensated if properties are taken or private business is made non-profit, public, or prohibited.

It's about a generation. Note the coincidence.