Obama’s Defeat

While I was working on this article yesterday, the election results were not finalized; partly because of the time difference on the west coast, and partly because the votes were still being counted. It was, however, clear that the Democrats and President Obama were seriously defeated. But … there is no reason to see this defeat as a game changer. Furthermore, no one should conclude that Barack Obama will not be sitting in the Oval Office two years from now, after the next presidential election. Why?

First of all, the defeat was not as bad as most people thought it would be, even though the Republicans had the majority with 60 seats. Contrary to expectations, the Democrats had the majority in the U.S. Senate. Usually, both the Senate and the House change leaders in elections. Therefore, the fact that Democrats have more weight in the Senate will be in favor of Obama and help him maneuver things from a better position.

On the other hand, the Republicans will surely be working against the Democrats, especially with the influence of the tea party, which is known to be much more conservative than the Republicans. Any other scenario would be against the nature of politics. Although, the Republicans are not as strong an opponent as they look, as they are facing serious conflicts among themselves. It is a known fact that they all have different views on the various reforms Barack Obama initiated, like healthcare and tax reforms. They are also not too fond of the extreme acts of the tea party.

Even though Barack Obama is not in a very advantageous position right now, given the instability of the Democrats’ opponents, it is hard to conclude that he is coming to an end.

We should also keep in mind that George Bush and Bill Clinton were also defeated in the midterm elections but were able to turn things around and extend their lease at the White House. Why couldn’t Barack Obama do the same thing? He can. Therefore, we should not conclude anything based on the results of the midterm elections, and note that it is very possible that Barack Obama will gain the trust of the nation again.