Election Night was a nail-biter, at least for me. It was not clear most of the night just where the polls would take us. One thing I am sure of; No one, no matter which party affiliation, wanted to see a long drawn-out recount debacle as we did with Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
These last four years has also been frustrating for much of the nation, with a congress divided with the opposing party determined to see that President Barack Obama does not win a second term. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's statement that “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” made it clear that nothing was going get accomplished.
Then the Tea Party and its success in the 2010 midterm election, taking over several House seats, brought assurance of more division and less cooperation between the two main parties of government. The GOP moved further to the right after the 2008 Election, handing over control of the direction of its agenda to the views of extremist within its ranks.
Now that Obama has won a second term, the question remains of just what will happen now within the workings of our Congress; will partisanship still rule or will more sensible voices be heard and take our nation to a better place than it has been? No longer is there a reason to be motivated in making this president fail. Still, resentment, bitterness and a refusal to face reality may set in, causing yet more partisanship and less cooperation. The only real losers will be the American people whose needs are urgent, with Social Security and Medicare going broke and a national deficit threatening the very security of the nation.
Can we move forward? Can our elected leaders show some maturity and seek for the common ground needed to solve the big problems that face our future? Only time will tell.
My prediction: Not much will change as far as getting things done in Washington. Republicans I think will find something they can push an impeachment trial with and Congress will spend months dragging the nation down a road of divisiveness and bickering. President Obama will work to accomplish what he can by executive order and the Tea Party will continue to control the House of Representatives with its same old non-compromising stance while blaming Obama for everything.
I hope I am wrong and moderate voices will once again speak loud enough to be heard over the din of noise created by those who refuse to give up anything or compromise one inch in their opponent's direction.
Picture a playground overrun by bullies and crybabies who are angry they did not get their way and you probably will have a good idea of what our Congress has been like and will probably continue to be. However, I hope that President Obama will continue to be the supervising adult on that playground, getting things done the best way he knows how, even if it is by executive order, which at times has been his only course of action. I wish him all the best because he will certainly need it.
This a republish from my website: Fidlerten Place