A Stage for Troublemakers

The Republicans succeeded in extending their congressional majority in the midterm election.

In the U.S., it’s traditional that the serving president’s party is punished in midterm elections. But the defeat Barack Obama’s Democrats suffered was much worse than expected: The opposition Republicans now control both houses of Congress. In both houses, they have comfortable record majorities they were able to achieve for the first time since the end of World War II. In addition, Republican successes in individual voting districts were anything but scarce. Final voting results were announced shortly after the polls closed.

After the Democrats lost the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms, which Obama later described as a “shellacking,” we’re now waiting to see what he will call this even worse defeat. Especially since most Democrats cite him as the main reason for their losses.

In fact, Obama’s public approval rating of 40 percent is just barely above the historical low point for U.S. presidents. The reasons for that include — among other things — the chaotic launching of his Affordable Care Act, which has proven for some to be considerably more expensive. Besides that, unintended side effects have had a negative impact on the employment of millions of Americans. Because there are so many unresolved issues, many Democrats have tried to distance themselves from Obama, as well as from his economic policies, during the campaign.

Over the past 12 months, Obama has proudly drawn attention to the declining unemployment figures as proof of an economic recovery. But his good news didn’t impress the public because the government’s numbers differed starkly from the experiences of a majority of the American people. So it came as no surprise that Obama became a burden for Democratic candidates and that many disillusioned voters just stayed home on election day. The Gallup polling organization therefore expected a low voter turnout after all data had been analyzed.

With their majorities in both the Senate and House, Republicans are now able to get their own legislation enacted, while Obama’s sole possibility is the presidential veto. Many in the media now say Obama will not have the power to overcome Republican opposition. At the same time, they point out that House Republicans have already been successful in blocking many of his proposals over the past four years. But because of this blockade, Obama has turned increasingly to presidential orders, which bypass Republican as well as Democratic legislative input and allow Obama to rule by decree, like an autocrat.

It’s questionable whether Republicans will more resolutely oppose what they describe as Obama’s unconstitutional methods, but no major changes are apparent in Washington in the near future. The bottom line is that Republicans, Democrats and the White House are pretty much on the same page when it comes to global military action, killer drones, increasing militarization of civilian police forces, and intelligence community spying on American citizens. Of course, the political wrangling will continue in view of the approaching presidential election, but that’s all just show. Continued disagreements between Obama and the Republicans are on the schedule, with Republicans demanding increased military action around the world. The new political constellation in Washington will serve to provide dangerous lunatics and Republican agitators with a welcome stage.