I don't really agree with this. If anything, the parts of the country that got smashed hardest in 2008-09 swung once to Obama in 2008 and have been swinging back R ever since. I would expect the "Somebody help us!" vote to be more anti-incumbent than left wing. I would argue the same was true with the Great Depression. E.g., an incumbent Democrat would have been thrown out just as fast in 1932.
^Pretty much this. A large factor in the Nazis' taking power was that NONE of the major parties were perceived as seriously being able to solve the economic problems of Germany.
