Republican victories last night will mean one thing for our country as it moves forward — gridlock. There will be an immediate attempt at rolling back successful Democratic achievements by the Republicans. These will be mostly unsuccessful. Republican bills will be passed in the House, and mostly blocked in the Senate, or if passed in the Senate, some will be signed, but many vetoed by President Obama.
This all creates the appearance - and reality - of no forward progress for voters.
Blame here goes all round. The press will blame the Democrats primarily — because they have the majority in the Senate and the presidency — regardless of whether forthcoming legislation is good for the country or not. Some of it will be, and some won’t be. Obama will face huge problems in 2012 because of this.
The press will thus be hugely influential in the next election because people won’t be looking closely enough at what’s actually happening in Congress. Instead, the public will be relying on the press, which often reports on the horse race rather than the substance of the issues. The newly empowered Tea Party will push its agenda forward in the House and Senate, but corporate Republicans who were also empowered in this election, in both houses, may have different plans.
Republicans will be very effective in front of the cameras and very unified in their message. Meanwhile, Democrats will be scattered. The President will retrench, but a big question remains as to whether his senior advisers, if they stay, will work effectively with Republican leaders. Big anonymous money will continue to flood in to support Republicans without missing a beat, whereas Democrats will likely initially drop the ball.
Victoria Jones is a White House Correspondent for the Talk Radio News Service