Election 2010: The Aftermath

Image via WikipediaAlmost from the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency, the Republicans developed a strategy to take back control of the government they had lost in the 2008 elections.

As the minority party in Congress, the GOP would start acting like spoiled children screaming "NO! NO! NO!"  for every program Obama and the Democrats put up, while seldom coming up with a better solution of their own.  The Democrats, like any overwhelmed parent, could do little more than to give the GOP kids what they wanted so peace could be maintained.

Couple that with an angry public dealing with unemployment and bank foreclosures, wondering why the change they had voted for in 2008 was slow in coming.  And a Tea Party movement that wanted less government and no new taxes made itself felt in the candidates that ran for office, even if there were some colorful characters mixed in.

Also, the GOP had a little help from the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that corporations can contribute directly to political campaigns.  Thus the attack ads funded by front organizations with anonymous donors that filled our TV screens, blaming Obama and the Democratic leadership for the mess we're in.

The strategy worked.  Tuesday the Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives.  Democrats regained the Senate, but by a slimmer margin.  John Boehner, the GOP congressman from Ohio, will be taking the gavel as the new Speaker of the House from Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California.

After all the progress made in this past session of Congress (and there was, believe it or not), things are likely to grind to a halt in the next session.  Despite talk of conciliation between the President and the GOP leadership and the solemn pledges to take the people's wishes seriously, we know there's not going to be any of the sort.  Mitch McConnell, the Senate's minority leader from Kentucky, recently went on record as saying the GOP's top priority is to make Obama a one-term president.

In spite of Jon Stewart's best efforts to lower the temperature of political discourse, we are currently living in the Era of Mean.  And it's only going to get worse because we're two years away from the 2012 presidential election.

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In Minnesota, the GOP tidal wave washed over the Legislature, with that party in control of both the House and Senate for the first time ever.

They also scored an upset in the Eighth Congressional District with previously unknown Chip Cravaack taking down longtime Democrat Jim Oberstar.  Otherwise, most of the other incumbents were re-elected to their congressional seats.

As for the governor's race, did someone say recount?  We need one again because Democrat Mark Dayton only holds a 9,000-vote lead over his Republican opponent Tom Emmer.  More on this in a future post.