Tuesday 2nd November, like every two years t this period, American citizens could vote for the new politicians who would represent them in the two parts of the Congress: The Senate and the Representative chamber. The Democratic Party remained upset by an unexpected result.
A real red wave (the CNN even called it the “republican landslide”!) marked the loss of the total control of the congress for Democrats last Tuesday. The Grand Old Party won 240 seats in the Representative Chamber (60 more than the last election) against 185 for the democrat party. Republicans are the new majority in the Chamber, led by Boenher who becomes the new speaker after Nancy Pelosi. This result can be considered as the biggest shift in the house for any party since 1948.
The situation is a little bit different for the Senate, which saw Republican winning 6 seats but remaining a minority with only 46 seats against 51 for the Democrats. With this new set-up, it will be difficult for Barack Obama to obtain the 2/3 approbation votes he needs to launch his new reforms.
The 6 states which enabled republicans to win new seats were North Dakota, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana and the most important, Illinois. The most important not because of its size, its votes or its strategical position, but because of the symbolic defeat it represents for Barack Obama and his party. The republican Mark Kirk won the seat Obama vacated for the white house. Democrats had lost only one senate race in the state in four decades.
For Obama, the compromise seems to become an emergency, and the cohabitation a necessity. “Some elections night are more fun than others [...], some are exhilarating, some are humbling” he said in the press conference that followed the election night, arguing that this defeat prompted “questioning on my part”. Persuaded that his policies were right but “had been explained badly”, the American president looked quite lost and disappointed after this exhausting night.
Another big change can be pointed out: The tea party enters the Congress with two members, Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Marco Rubio (Florida). What means this little but effective victory? At least in the states where they were elected, it can be the result of a desire to give a more important space for so-called ultra conservative ideas.
What are the responsibilities of Obama in this defeat? It’s the question a lot of observers try to answer to. Firstly, the global crisis which stroke developed countries didn’t help him at all. Even it’s clear that he cannot be considered as responsible for it, his decisions to end up the crises prompted a lot of criticizes.
The unprecedented unemployment rate (that reached 10% this year) has been the most important one since the 30’s crises. His 787-milliard reflationary measures could have appeared as an efficient decision, creating and saving 3 million jobs but some Americans think that it was not enough and that Obama didn’t dare to impose more important measures.
Several Americans also criticize the health reform which aims to permit to 32 millions Americans who didn’t have any insurance to obtain one, judged as inefficient in the short term, and too intrusive in Americans’ private life. Some citizens even think that the health law has been too much treated, overshadowing the real emergency subject: the reflation. With a 13 billion deficit, the economic situation in USA remains worrying for a lot of its inhabitants.
Eventually, the actual president has to collaborate with the Republican Party, encouraged by an impressive victory. We will see in the future months how it works.
