The 2014 midterm elections are no surprise; however the Democrats hand over the Senate with bitterness, while the Republicans do victory laps as if they weren’t expecting a clean sweep. Considering it is Obama’s sixth year in office (“six-year itch” of the president’s last term), where things aren’t going smoothly at all in regards to anxiety over Ebola, ISIS attention in the Middle East, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, a change in Senate majority isn’t all the surprising in reaction to all these issues. The red sweep that went across America may have been more of a landslide than most were predicting, but the midterm elections did not end with all bad news for Democrats.
Even with Congress under control of Republicans, the House and Senate are both dependent on their Democratic president’s signature for anything to pass. So essentially, the gridlock that we’ve been seeing among the branches over the past few years will continue more or less as it was. Even though their may be attempts to do so, the next two years will not be run by the conservative agenda entirely. All this talk of the record-breaking expensive party politics is tiresome, however.
As someone who is considerably pessimistic towards our political party system overall, I would prefer to focus on specific issues that were voted on in the elections this year. If you were to look at the bills that got voted on during the elections, you could make an argument that the Democrats came in strong in regards to policy proposals. The legalization of marijuana was successfully passed in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C. In addition, several states, including Arkansas and Nebraska, approved a minimum wage hike. Other important issues that made some serious headway in a positive direction in the midterm elections are abortion rights and gun ownership laws.
There were no primary issues building up to these elections, but the several policies that were voted on seem reveal something different than the Republicans taking over Congress. It appears that the policies that are stereotypically most supported by the liberals are what did so well in the polls. This goes to show that potentially the fairly conservative political parties (relative to historical ideologies) can make some steps toward the middle of the spectrum.
Overall, I think there two main things to carry home from the results of the midterm elections (that I have room to discuss). The first is that nobody should be entirely heartbroken that the Republicans are taking over the Congress, because it is not the end of the world. Especially considering the voter turnout was below 40% of the population. The second is that people should be aware and concerned about specific issues that are being presented during the elections because this is what will directly affect us. And one more thing, always vote, and vote well informed!