“I had not thought about it until we discussed it,” Mr. Swink said on the phone, in a follow-up conversation. “The average hourly wage earner here, their lifestyle isn’t getting better. It’s staying the same.”

Economists differ about what exactly would help raise wages for hourly workers. Progressive economists urge more government intervention; right-leaning economists urge less. The former say that raising the minimum wage would have ripple effects on the paychecks of employees higher on the pay scale. The latter, such as Edward P. Lazear of the Hoover Institution, argue that increased regulations and capital gains taxes are to blame for stagnant wages and suppressed job creation.

The phrase “no silver bullet” came up a lot in discussions on the topic. And the elusiveness of solutions to the wage issue, perhaps, also leads voters to candidates with no Washington experience. In the absence of action and answers, a deep exasperation with the status quo sets in.

The day of that meal at the Bonefish Grill, John Boehner, the House speaker, announced that he would resign from Congress, citing a faction within his party that stood against deal-making of any kind with Democrats. It was a reminder that an insurrectionist, “throw the bums out” movement had, in 2010, put a few dozen Republican lawmakers with Tea Party leanings into office. Some were first-time office seekers; all of them had campaigned against Washington.

Which makes some wonder: Why would yet another populist wave cure what ails the economy? And why isn’t anger, like that expressed by the Lewies and the Veldhovens, directed at the Republicans?

“There is anger at the G.O.P.,” Mr. Lewie said. “That’s why we’re not looking at politicians anymore. What has the Tea Party done? I voted for those candidates.”

“We want them out,” his wife said. “We want people.”

But isn’t everyone a person until elected, at which point they become a politician?

You can never tell what someone will become after they get into office, Mr. Lewie said. “The ones that are entrenched,” he explained, “need to go.”