Whether the recent elections were a mandate or a mistake will be revealed to us in the next two years.
To those who think mandate, they must be happy to see how money can buy an election or two. To those who will come to view it as a mistake, many of you have no one to blame but yourself for failing to vote, or letting 30-second TV ads decide your vote.
Sadly, I hope this is not a reflection of how much we value our democracy or how easily it can be purchased by the Koch Brothers and other “dark money” PACs whose interests are totally different than the vast majority of our citizens.
On the national level not much is likely to change even though the GOP has gained a majority in the Senate. They lack enough votes to end a filibuster, the tried-and-true tactic made popular by the GOP.
Republicans have used the filibuster at records levels during the administration of President Barack Obama. With this past history of endless obstructionism we now have a Congress that has earned some of the lowest approval ratings in our history.
It will be interesting to see how many time the GOP will cry “foul” when the Democrats use filibusters. Sadly, the continued lack of bi-partisanship will almost certainly remain in play.
In addition, common grounds within the GOP will also be a problem, as there are a number of presidential hopefuls with their own political agendas. They won’t have Obama to run on.
George Lorenz
Waupaca