Is the Romance Over?

Is the romance over?

If the only way the Democrats can conserve their majority in Congress is for unemployment to decrease to an acceptable level within two months, the only thing left for President Obama’s party to do is throw in the towel right now. Untangling the mess left by his predecessor is not a question of months or even years; the problem for Democrats is that voters don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel of unemployment and have lost their patience.

It’s been two years since Obama made history in winning the 2008 elections by 53 percent of the vote, an impressive number for the president considering only 35 percent of the vote came from his party’s base. The feat was made possible by a new coalition of youths, women, Latinos, blacks and whites with high education levels who were fascinated by Obama’s message and charisma. Today, however, the support of the president within the members of this coalition is crumbling, and only African-American support has remained steady since November 2008.

Oddly, Obama continues to be the most popular politician in the country, with an approval rating around 45 percent, and Democrats continue to have a higher level of acceptance among voters than Republicans — 36 percent, compared to 30 percent — but Independents will decide the midterm elections, and the majority are dissatisfied with both the president and the Democratic majority in Congress.

Another factor that puts Obama at a disadvantage is that, in general, in the midterm elections the number of voters decreases by 26 percent. Therefore, the strong bases of each party will vote and so will those who are disgruntled and who wish to punish those who in their opinion are responsible for their frustration.

Many disappointed voters feel that neither the president nor the majority in Congress has demonstrated the willingness to work constructively with the opposition. In this respect, they believe that a government divided equally between both parties would oblige both sides to govern by consensus. Obama has exhausted every tactic to convince voters that the problem is that the Republicans in Congress have refused to cooperate with any project. I believe that the evidence against the Republicans is overwhelming, but this is not the perception of Independent voters, who have the power to decide these elections. Surveys indicate that most voters criticize the president and his party for not applying themselves from the beginning to resolving the problem which affects them the most — unemployment.

Last week, Obama requested that Congress approve a new program of investment to create new public work projects for infrastructure that would create new jobs. The problem is that it requires the approval of Congress, and it would be impossible to reach an agreement within the two months before the elections. Obama has also proposed a package of tax cuts for businesses that create jobs, and although the details of this proposal have just been released this week, it is known that at least 1.5 million companies could benefit from this measure. The initial approval of the project by House Minority Leader John Boehner could predict its success, but nothing will transpire before the election.

Ironically, the controversial political career of Boehner, who would become the House Majority Leader if the Republicans win, benefits Obama by allowing him to try to worry voters by illustrating him as a politician whose agenda obeys the interests of large banking, financial, tobacco and oil corporations, not those of the people who suffer from unemployment and are struggling to make a living. The evidence against Boehner is unquestionable, but will it be enough to reverse a trend less than two months before the midterm elections?