Tuesday, November 02, 2010

What is your opinion of the Nov. 2 election results? Are the results good for the country, good for the parties, good for the president?

49 comments:

Nklinka said...

So far so good for Republicans with Rand Paul winning Kentucky and Dan Coats winning Indiana. This will help in evening the partisan balance, which is good for the country, not so much for the president.

Nklinka said...

Tea Party movement is doing an excellent job of losing Republican votes to Democrats, especially in Delaware.

At least we don't have any witches in our senate ;)

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Paul and (to a great degree) Coats are not surprises. Aquad Buddha backfire and an old name returns to the Congress.

Pennsylvania and West VA are going to be interesting.

Nklinka said...

West VA stole a seat with the win by Manchin, but because he leans so far right he may not be all too helpful.

Boozman's win over Lincoln, while somewhat obvious, removes an incumbent from office.

Nklinka said...

Also Manchin had it very easy due to his opponent in Raese, the man who earned money the old fashioned way, by inheritance. The things he said were similar to that of the witch, hurting his chances.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

I agree that Raese was not the most formidable candidate, but Manchin ran a good, conservative race too (70% approval didn't hurt). He'll still vote for the D leader though. Big projections coming up.

Nklinka said...

Any chance of mass chaos, world depression coming to fruition because the debt cap is not raised as people with strict budgetary requirements come into office (Rand Paul, etc.)?

JakeK said...

The founding fathers wanted this. A split congress will force Obama to govern from the center like Clinton in '94. I'm interested to see how Reid does in Nevada.

Nklinka said...

I'm surprised by margin of Feingold's loss.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Nevada, California, Colorado, Washington still interesting races (plus Pennsylvania final returns). AND I think the polls close at Midnight our time in Alaska! Can't wait for the recount in Nevada and Alaska.

Nklinka said...

Early western returns make it seem as though democrats will maintain a very slight majority in the senate. (50-47-3 is my prediction)

JakeK said...

My guess is Kirk and Toomey will be the only other Republicans that win tonight. 46 for the GOP

JakeK said...

I'm very surprised with Reid winning. Up until recently, polls showed that Angle way ahead.

Ecotton said...

To be honest nothing was really surprising. Republicans reclaimed much of what they lost. The people want change and this is just their way of showing it. This election will be overall good for the country because bipartisanship will create bills that will not be to extreme to either end of the political spectrum: or it could just create a complete stalemate... I definitely hope its the first one.

ACzajkowski said...

I'm not suprised at all by the results. Apparently Mr. Bretzmann wasn't either since all of his "predictions" were pin-point accurate (something fishy is going on there). Because of this shift in Republican Congressmen, I think progress will be harder to achieve in our country. We will just have to wait until 2012 when we get a Republican president for the real magic to happen. The thing I'm happiest about is that Wisconsin now has much needed Republican represenation in the senate and at governor. I expect to see positive changes to occur in Wisconsin in upcoming years.

AHanna said...

The results of the 2010 midterm elections were no surprise at all. The nation has been fed up with the incumbents of Congress, state legislatures, and governorships. Now the electorate has gotten what they wanted, and it's up to our politicians - old and new - to do something to move this nation in the right direction.

These results are definitely good for the country because the liberal-dominated federal government now has a big block of Republicans cutting in to slow them down. It's up to bipartisanship now if anything is to happen from now to 2012. The other possibility is that we will have stalemated legislature until 2012 (when hopefully the Senate and presidency can be taken by Republicans, so we can have some new change in this nation).

Parties - good for Republicans because of the massive gains, bad for Democrats because of the massive losses (they're lucky they held on to the Senate).

Then there's President Obama. This isn't good for him because he's going to encounter increased opposition to his plans in Washington. If he doesn't get anything done with this Congress, there will be 2 years of nothing.

Lastly, it will be interesting to see what goes on in the states. Many states - including Wisconsin - now have Republican governors and state legislatures. Considering conservatives favor states rights, it will be interesting to see how all the states will be operating.

JHoltman said...

In my opinion, the November 2nd election results aren't great for the country. I don't feel a lot of progress will be made as a result of a Republican majority in the House. This is however, possibly a good thing for President Obama and for his reelection. In 1994, the Republicans took a majority in both the House and Senate, resulting in the feeling that Bill Clinton would be a one term president. However, Clinton took more of a bipartisan stance and governed in the middle. If Obama does this, it will be good for his chances of reelection. However, if progress is to be made in this country before 2012, both Republicans and Democrats must embrace bipartisanship.

KRodenbeck said...

It can be good or bad. If President Obama decides to come to the center like Bill Clinton did in the past, Congress can function. But if Mr. Obama shoots down every bill proposed by the Republican Party, nothing will happen until the next elections.

cziolkowski said...

I feel that this results from the Nov. 2 elections will be good for our country as a whole because now there is a republican majority in the house and a democratic majority in the seneate. This will force them to compromise on issues and pass laws that both sides are happy about. This may not be the best situation for the President because the bills that come to him will not be the way he would want them to be.

M. Francis said...

My opinion of the Nov. 2 election results is positive. As a moderate, I'm glad that Congress is no longer in complete control by a far left agenda. I believe that having a split Congress will lead to more compromises and bipartisanship, which will be better that than if either party controlled both houses.
This election, I believe, is a retaliation against the far left President. So many of his policies either havn't been successful or are not supported by the majority of U.S. citizens. This gives Obama two years to either move to the middle, or move on out in 2012.

Blake Kraussel hr. 2 said...

My opinion, being the Republican that I am is that the power swung in the right way. I believe the Republican swing is good for the country. Quite frankly the Republican Party has established ways they are going to try to lower our countries debt. It is inevitable that we are coming back economically, but I do believe that the Republicans can speed up this process. Moving on, I think the change in power will make a tougher job for President Obama. Now he has to deal with a congress which is likely to be stingy when our president is trying to pass a far left agenda. Lastly the change is good for the Republicans(gained power) and bad for the Democrats(lost power). Overall I am happy with the November 2. Election results.

nspoerk said...
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nspoerk said...
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nspoerk said...

The sweeping changes in control of the governor's and congressional positions for the nation was completely predictable. However, I am surprised that the Democrats were able to hang onto a majority, even if that margin hangs on a thread.

In terms of the parties, the resulting opinions are obvious. The Democrats are most likely and understandably upset of their losses in governors' offices across the nation (now about ten less than the Republicans) and their loss of control in the House (now at a defecit to the Republicans of about fifty). However, I expect that the Democrats are also breathing a collective sigh of relief over their held majority in the Senate. Provided that the Democrats all do a lot of party-line voting, they can still squeeze legislation through. However, it is likely that that will go nowhere because the Republican-controlled House is unlikely to accept any of the Democrats' legislation unless it is very moderate. Election results: Bad for Democrats.


For the Republicans, I would expect overall happiness for the party's gains in the election. Despite their falling just short in the Senate, I still expect them to create a fair number of their own bills. Election results: Good for Republicans.

For President Obama, this is a bad thing. Considering he is arguably one of the most liberal presidents we have seen since FDR, the new Republican Congress will probably, in his eyes, be nothing but a thorn in his side. I think there is some potential for him to built a powerful reputation going into 2012 if he works more moderately, but I doubt this will happen. In American society, the predominant issue is money; how we're using it, how much we owe, and what is being done to get it back. President Obama's approach to this has been to spend more in the (futile) attempts of earning more. For the Republican Party as a whole, there was a lot of campaigning on "stopping the spending in Washington" during this election. Considering this clash of ideals between the White House and Congress, I expect the system to more or less stagnate. When nothing gets done, Obama's opponent in 2012 will leap at the campaign platform that he/she will "stop arguing and get something done in Washington." I predict these election results have initiated a situation that will take Obama out of office. Election results: Bad for the president.

In terms of the country's fate, I'd say these elections' outcomes depends on your view. As I just said, I am predicting that there will be significantly less legislation making it through Congress and the presidency. If you think that the country was on the right path before, working towards our fourteenth figure in our national debt, then the results of this election should bode well for your ideals for the country (poor, misguided souls). If you dissapprove of the Obama administration's hype to get as much legislation with their name on it passed as possible, then the country should be better off in your unclouded eyes. Election results: Good for the country.

msenk said...

The Nov. 2nd election results came as no suuprise to me. The Republicans won the house, and the Democrates held the senate. Although many people seem to think that this will create a sense of bipartisianship, I disagree. I instead think that this will create a congressional gridlock wheraes many things will not be passed. This will then create a negative effect for the country.

EOetting hr.2 said...

My opinion of the Nov. 2 election is mixed. To me was no surprise the Republicans took control of the House, as well as the Democrats holding the Senate. This can be seen as either good or bad, but I believe it to be mostly good. I think it will create more compromise and bipartisanship. With each Congress split it will force them to work together or accomplish nothing in the next two years. If nothing is accomplished in the next two years I believe a lot of people will end up without a job in 2012. And since all politicians goal is to be reelected, I think they will do everything in their power to please the public.

Zyork said...

As many people have posted... the republicans have established a majority in the House of Representatives while the Democrats maintain control of the Senate. In my opinion these results are not good for anyone. It is doubtful that anything useful will get passed because the republicans most likely won't pass much legislation that the Democrats will agree with. Even if a bill gets to the senate and they pass it, President Obama most likely would not sign it. This makes it incredibly difficult for President Obama to continue with the "Change" he promised to America which could still have been good. Overall, I think this election hurt everybody (atleast for 2 years when one party can take more control).

Nklinka said...

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that my election night comments suffice to count for my blog post. That is all.

RPawlow said...

I expected the results to come in as they did, but I'm not sure as to how they will play out (once, of course, the lame duck session is over). My guess is that with our split Congress, President Obama will be able to (or will have to?) work more cooperatively. I believe this will, in short, lead to the progress we were promised in 2008.

RPawlow said...
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sscheidt said...
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sscheidt said...

I was not surprised by the election results. Like many had predicted, the Republicans gained control of the House and the Democrats retained control of the Senate. I think that a lot of people voted they way they did because they are seeking a change from the current ways of the government. I would consider myself a moderate on most issues, so I am not completely for or against the change, but I don’t really think that this split Congress will accomplish much. People seem to think it will foster bipartisanship and compromise, but I only foresee difficulties in agreeing on and passing legislature. However, I am interested to see what will happen from this point on.

DWayer said...

It was no surprise that the Republicans took the House, while the Democrats remained on top of the Senate, although I thought it might be a little bit closer of a race in the Senate. This shifting of majority will most likely bring about little change, something that President Obama is not much of a fan of. What this will show is how much President Obama wants to get reelected for another term. If he continues on like he has been, it will be very difficult to get anything done, resulting in a Republican president in 2012. But if he chooses to emulate Clinton in 1994, he has a much higher chance of making it in for a second term.

ANavarro said...

I hate to sound like a broken record but here I go... After the November 2nd elections it came as no suprise to me that the republicans gained majority in the House of representatives while the Democrats maintained control of the Senate. As many before me have stated, I believe this will prove detrimental in regards to the passing of legislature due to disagreements between the two parties. I am not so optimistic on the chance of bipartisanship happening anytime soon. I'm hoping I didn't restate someone's opinion verbatim but I did wait until the very last hour.

JVarsos said...

I think that the election results will have one of two consequences: a stalemated congress and a lame duck Obama or a strengthened bipartisan effort.

Based on the results, this change may not be good for the country. If the two parties cannot compromise on bills we will never be able to u-turn the economy. There will be less legislation passed through Congress which may stifle any progress we've made.

The election was good for both parties, but in different ways. Republicans earned back many seats in Congress including a majority that will help them in pursuance of conservative legislature. Democrats, although losing a majority in the House, will be presented with an opportunity to have Obama be reelected in 2012, as history reminds us. For now however, the Democrats are going to have trouble being successful unless they pursue bipartisanship.

The elections could be good for the president if he takes advantage of the opportunity Clinton-esque. Flopping back and forth with bipartisan efforts could keep legislation churning out and get him reelected in 2012. However, if he fails to do this, 2012 may be the end for Obama.

I'm a half-full kinda guy so I think (well, hope) that bipartisan efforts are spurned from these results.

GLeGros said...

The results of the November 2nd election were no surprise to me. I had expected a shift in the house, causing the republicans to take control of the majority. As for the senate, as I was optimistic about a majority change, but realistically, it would have been very difficult for that to happen. Overall, the results of this election were very positive and caused our country to take a turn towards the right direction. As a result of the new majority in the house, we will have a far less one-sided country, and will be able to create compromises due to this split congress.

As for President Obama, this change in the house is not particularly "good" for him. Now it will be much more difficult to pass bills (the way he wants them) into law.

Although the change of majority in the house was definitely a positive, it was only a small step in the right direction. With the upcoming elections in 2012, the republicans will have the opportunity to take not just a step, but a leap in the right direction.

jwaltz said...

The Nov. 2 elections aren't surprising. A lot of people were not pleased with progress that was made in our country. Now that Congress is split, I don't think that much will get done. If President Obama was having trouble passing his policies through Congress then, how will having a split government be any different now? I would hope that both the House and the Senate will try to compromise with each other; keeping in mind the best interests for our country.

JScott said...

In my opinion the results were much better for the Republicans, but the Democrats avoided a much bigger loss. I don't think that the results were too terrible for the Democrats. As for the president however, I think he will have more trouble getting support from the House and the Senate, more so the House than anything, in the future. As for the country, I speculate that not much will get done that's also effective. I think that either parties' plans and agendas will have a positive effect in some way, but nothing is getting done because of the constant conflict among them causeing irresolution in our country and the switches of power that seem to keep cycleing.

KSASS said...

I believe that the November second election results were very predictable. With Republicans controlling the House, less bills will be made spending huge amounts of money. However, the Democratic Party also wins because they maintained control over the Senate and still have Harry Reid. In order to get anything done, the two parties will have to come to cooperative terms. The results are not good for the president, because president Obama has a strict schedule that he wants to follow. His plans will be hard to achieve with a Republican House. On the other hand, the results are good for the country, because our government is now divided. I see this as a positive aspect, because it ensures that mob rule will not and can not happen. The ideologies of both parties must cooperate. A moderate movement will provide the country with better solutions in the future, instead of an ideologically one-sided quick fix.

SMiller said...

Overall, I think the results of the election show great success for the GOP, as they were easily able to gain control of the House and came within a few seats of taking the senate as well. Democrats, on the other hand, sustained significant losses but were able to avoid complete catastrophe by holding on to the Senate majority. The results should be detrimental for Obama, as he will not hold a complete Democratic majority in Congress for the remainder of his term. This should make it harder for him to pass major pieces of legislation that are heatedly opposed by Republicans, as he was able to do in the past. The results of this recent election should make for an interesting remainder of Obama's presidential term.

Rjsweeney Hr2 said...

Overall I am pleased with the election results. I think the results turned out good for everyone in the end, including the democrats, considering that they still retained the majority in the senate. Hopefully this can bring some balance of powers between the two political parties, potentially getting things done that both parties can agree on, which will most closely represent the views of the country as a whole.

Anonymous said...

The November 2nd election results were not suprising but could turn out to be good or bad for America.

The main theme for this election was much the same as Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign: "change" The American people wanted drastic change with a new president in 2008 and now want to change the effects of his mishaps now in 2010.(Ironic?) The American people have spoken and now the Congress will have to settle discrepancies that will set the stage for the success of our country for a generation.

The results of the November 2nd elections are good for the Republican party, but not the Democratic party. This split of Congress will force bipartisan legislation and if that happens, the country will benefit. Clearly, President Obama did not want this but he admitted that the country has spoken and now he must act also. If he can be more bipartisan himself, like Bill Clinton was in 1994, then our country will become more like our founding fathers wanted it to be.

MAnderson said...

I wasn't shocked at all ( as far as Wisconsin) by the results. Ron Johnson was clearly in the lead, so that wasn't really a shocker. I am glad that he won, because I think Wisconsin needs a new outlook on a lot of issues.

DannyF said...

I wasn't very surprised at all. The polls that were coming out week by week showed strong concern over where our country is heading, and that we needed to act so that changes could occur. I believe that the changes are good for this country because it will keep it more balanced in Congress so that Democrats will not have all the power to pass bills so easily. These results were not the plans President Obama wanted in any way, so I believe his "change" he wanted so bad in 2008 will be harder than he thought.

nwalters said...

The November 2nd elections weren't the greatest. The republicans have more seats now which may be better for the country but since the president is a democrat and he has a slight majority in the senate but not in the house. It is going to be much harder for the democrats to pass a bill that is more liberal than conservative. This could be a very good thing for the country if bills will be able to passed by the republicans.

nwalters said...
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JBerlyn said...

The results of the elections were as I expected them to be, with republicans taking a majority in the House but not the Senate. I am not thrilled that the republicans made gains in the House and Senate because it will be increasingly difficult for the President to accomplish much. The republicans will hopefully make fiscally responsible decisions that helped gain them popularity and continue to stabilize the economy.

Rjohnson-evers said...

The election results are obviously good for Republicans and bad for Democrats. However, the changes are not as drastic some experts and polls predicted. The results are also bad for the president since he will have to adjust his agenda to account for the change in control. These results can be good for the country if everyone is willing to compromise and get things done, but I think that it is more likely that partisanship will be prominent and little will be accomplished.

ckruesel said...

I am happy that the Republicans are now in the majority, especially in the house, because I was not pleased with the Health Care Bill. However I think the Republican majority may be harmful for the nation because it seems to me that the Republicans were kind of bitter after the Health Care Bill passed and now that they are in the majority they may pass controversial bills of their own without thinking of how they affect the American people. I think that the new strong Republican majority is harmful for the Democrats and the President as well.