I think that this latest failure of Congress to do its duty under the Constitution regarding this new war against ISIS/ISIL is going to cost the Republicans at the polls in November.
Most Americans understand that the power to declare war is the most important power which the Congress has under the Constitution. Many of these people are going to see the decision to adjourn Congress until after the elections, especially the House after only being in session for eight days following a five week vacation, as an act of political cowardice and a dereliction of their duty under the Constitution.
Once people realize how Congress has been derelict in exercising its duty in the all important matters of war and peace, they will begin to take a deeper look at the dreadful record of this Congress. When they do that, they will realize how besides shirking their duty regarding war and peace, Congress has accomplished very little in other areas of major concerns, such as the well being of the great majority of the American people and the issues of economic fairness to those who have not experienced the benefits enjoyed by the wealthiest since the reign of Ronald Reagan. Hopefully the American people will begin to see how much of that failure to act on behalf of the majority of their constituents is due to Republican obstructionism.
I think that the Democratic candidates for the House and Senate should continuously bombard their Republican opponents, especially the incumbents, to pressure their leadership to call Congress back into session to vote on the new war before the elections. The message the Democrats should use is "Force Congress to do its duty under the Constitution and to do it now! "
The beauty of this simple unified message from Democratic candidates is that it can then be adapted and used in a multitude of ways depending upon the specific race and issues. It can be used to go after the Republican obstructionists for trying to do the bidding of their masters, the Koch brothers, while failing to enact other legislation which would have benefited their constituents. Issues that can be worked into this message include raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women, education reform, forcing a government shutdown and threatening another one should the GOP regain control of the Senate and failure to address climate change, among many others.
I believe this can be a winning message for Democrats going into the November elections. Not only will it help to energize the Democratic base, but I think it would be effective in appealing to independent voters as well. I may be overly optimistic, but I think that if the Democrats can put enough pressure on the GOP, and the Republican leadership does not call Congress back into session to address the war, that Democrats may even pick up a seat or two in the House and lose a maximum of two seats in the Senate. It's something to consider.