With the 2014 election now firmly in our rear-view it is time to look forward. It is no secret that the Republicans won in a landslide but we do not yet know what this will mean for the country in these next two years. We can, however, look at what the evidence is telling us will happen; more of the same. Sadly, the Republican controlled congress in these next two year will likely look like the congress of the last two year, which means just as much dysfunction and gridlock as ever. All this is for one key reason, “The election Determines the winners but those winners are not always compatible with one another,” (Wayne). Translated into the 2014 election, this means that; no matter how many Republicans take seats in the Federal Government, they still need to be able to work with Obama. As of now working together with Obama seems to be an impossibility and that will keep this Government stagnant and entirely ineffective.
In this past campaign season many speeches were given to illustrate how this candidate will work across party lines but almost no one ran on a platform of working with the White house. Getting anything done without bringing Obama on board in extremely difficult but nearly all candidates, whether Republican or Democrat, ran an anti-Obama campaign. . The reason candidates campaigned on this is because that is what Americans want. This is clearly illustrated in recent research by Pew Institute; it shows that 63% of Americans want elected officials make compromises but 66% of Republican voters say not to compromise with Obama (Blake). “If candidates for office are increasingly defined by and held accountable for promises they made and positions they took during the campaign, it will be harder for them as elected officials to adjust to new conditions and make the compromises necessary to govern,” (Wayne). This tells us that because of the campaign-oriented environment nothing will get done in the coming years, as policy makers will be held to their vows not to compromise with Obama.
Now, this may only seem like speculation but with the election only weeks behind us the drama has already started. The new Congress is not even in their seats yet and they are coming to a head over immigration. “Obama repeated that he would issue an executive order by the end of the year and promised not to back down over Republican threats that taking unilateral action would cripple future cooperation,” (The Moderate Voice). While Obama has his reasons for taking decisive action, the threat that it will hurt cooperation is not an empty one. It is clear that Republicans were not making any progress on immigration but Obama has a long road ahead with this new congress if he continues to take such actions.
This issue becomes even more potent as we approach the end of the fiscal year and hope that congress can pass a new budget. While the new members of congress will not have a part in this upcoming budget it is still a foreboding event. “Democrats seem likely to try to block most GOP initiatives on the economy to deny Republicans victories ahead of 2016,” (White). The American people made it very clear in this election that their focus is on the economy, so this 2015 budget will not be the last showdown over money. And, after seeing what happened after the last major economic showdown (government shutdown) any more drama over this does not bode well for the American people. If Republicans cannot start to work with Obama on the budget it is panning out to be a scary two years.
The new Republican led congress is not only faced with the issue of working across party line but the more challenging issue of working with Obama. This becomes a challenging issue because of an anti-Obama campaigning season and an electorate that will hold them to such pledges. We have seen right away that Obama does not feel he can work with this new chamber, as he will take executive action on immigration before they are even in office. And, with the showdown over the Budget and more economic showdowns to come, not working together becomes a major liability. The electorate has made its choice for a Republican led legislature clear but if this legislature cannot find common ground with Obama there will be nothing new about them.
Wayne, Stephen J. "Elections and Government" In Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election?, 221-248. Fifth ed. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2014.
Blake, Aaron. "Republicans Are Cool with Compromise — Just Not with President Obama." Washington Post. November 20, 2014. Accessed November 21, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/20/republicans-are-cool-with-compromise-just-not-with-president-obama/.
Ordonez, Franco, and Lesley McClatchy. "Obama to Act on Immigration, Won’t Wait for New GOP Senate." The Moderate Voice. November 14, 2014. Accessed November 21, 2014. http://themoderatevoice.com/200387/obama-act-immigration-wont-wait-new-gop-senate/.
White, Ben. "Voters Want the GOP to Fix the Economy. Good Luck with That." POLITICO. Accessed November 21, 2014. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/republican-economy-2014-election-112618_Page2.html.
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