Mid-term elections bash US democrats
A new page in the history of American politics has been written today, after the US mid-term elections recorded a triumph for the Republicans, who won a majority in the House of Representatives and gained seats in the Senate.
Six US states are now under the Republican flag, in one of the worst election outcomes for the Democrats in recent years. The opposition success was helped by the growing popularity of the right-wing, ultra-conservative Tea Party, which won two seats in the Senate but failed in several crucial states, leaving the Senate itself in the Democrats' hands.
The result followed expectations gathered in the polls of the previous days, which recorded widespread discontent among Americans towards President Obama, the unstable economic situation, and the high unemployment rate.
10 governorships passed to the Republicans. California however, a state that the Republican party spent 8 million dollars trying to win, went Democratic. Incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer defeated Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, after the state spent eight years under “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Kentucky and Florida elected Tea Party members Rand Paul and Marco Rubio to the Senate – the latter winning with a massive 21 per cent gap separating him from the democratic candidate and the former governor, Charlie Crist.
Overall, the Democrats suffered a heavy defeat, with more than 60 House seats lost to the opposition. They managed to avoid the death blow with the cardinal victories in California and Nevada – where the first lady Michelle Obama went yesterday to campaign with Democratic candidate, and today's winner, Senator Harry Reid.
Daniel Poisson, co-chair of Democrats Abroad: Hungary, told The Fresh Outlook: “I think today's elections are a message that has to be taken seriously by the president and by the party. People are not satisfied with the government's decisions, and the economic policy that has been taken.”
Only two years after the landmark election of Barack Obama to the Oval office, the Democrats were hit hard even in the president's home state of Illinois, where the Senate seat that used to be his has shifted to the other side - won by Republican Mark Kirk. Indiana, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Dakota went with the Republican wave, too.
The results mark a bleak scenario for President Obama, who now has 54 percent of the House of Representatives against him. The result is, in many ways, surprising; with a big chunk of the votes coming from the sectors of society who supported him two years ago: women, middle class, the elderly and independent voters.
Still, Mr Poisson said: “Americans are eternally optimistic. They get angry, they get frustrated, but they don't lose faith. I think there's still faith in the government. Evidence of that is that we kept the Senate. They want us to change, but they still believe,” he said.
Last night, Mr Obama talked to Nancy Pelosi, the current Democratic House Speaker, and to John Boenher, the Republican who is going to take her place. The president said he is willing to “work with [Mr Boenher] and the Republicans to find a common action ground, go ahead together and carry out what the American people expect.” President Obama proved he knows the old saying that goes “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
The Republicans may use their new dominance of theHouse of Representatives to try to scrap some of Obama's law reforms - healthcare being high on their list.
Asked about this possibility, Mr Poisson said: “There is another way to see this. If the Republicans want the president to pass legislations on their behalf, they need to collaborate. Remember that the president has a veto. It's going to be a cooperation with mutual interests.”
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
02.11.2010
Six US states are now under the Republican flag, in one of the worst election outcomes for the Democrats in recent years. The opposition success was helped by the growing popularity of the right-wing, ultra-conservative Tea Party, which won two seats in the Senate but failed in several crucial states, leaving the Senate itself in the Democrats' hands.
The result followed expectations gathered in the polls of the previous days, which recorded widespread discontent among Americans towards President Obama, the unstable economic situation, and the high unemployment rate.
10 governorships passed to the Republicans. California however, a state that the Republican party spent 8 million dollars trying to win, went Democratic. Incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer defeated Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, after the state spent eight years under “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Kentucky and Florida elected Tea Party members Rand Paul and Marco Rubio to the Senate – the latter winning with a massive 21 per cent gap separating him from the democratic candidate and the former governor, Charlie Crist.
Overall, the Democrats suffered a heavy defeat, with more than 60 House seats lost to the opposition. They managed to avoid the death blow with the cardinal victories in California and Nevada – where the first lady Michelle Obama went yesterday to campaign with Democratic candidate, and today's winner, Senator Harry Reid.
Daniel Poisson, co-chair of Democrats Abroad: Hungary, told The Fresh Outlook: “I think today's elections are a message that has to be taken seriously by the president and by the party. People are not satisfied with the government's decisions, and the economic policy that has been taken.”
Only two years after the landmark election of Barack Obama to the Oval office, the Democrats were hit hard even in the president's home state of Illinois, where the Senate seat that used to be his has shifted to the other side - won by Republican Mark Kirk. Indiana, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Dakota went with the Republican wave, too.
The results mark a bleak scenario for President Obama, who now has 54 percent of the House of Representatives against him. The result is, in many ways, surprising; with a big chunk of the votes coming from the sectors of society who supported him two years ago: women, middle class, the elderly and independent voters.
Still, Mr Poisson said: “Americans are eternally optimistic. They get angry, they get frustrated, but they don't lose faith. I think there's still faith in the government. Evidence of that is that we kept the Senate. They want us to change, but they still believe,” he said.
Last night, Mr Obama talked to Nancy Pelosi, the current Democratic House Speaker, and to John Boenher, the Republican who is going to take her place. The president said he is willing to “work with [Mr Boenher] and the Republicans to find a common action ground, go ahead together and carry out what the American people expect.” President Obama proved he knows the old saying that goes “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
The Republicans may use their new dominance of theHouse of Representatives to try to scrap some of Obama's law reforms - healthcare being high on their list.
Asked about this possibility, Mr Poisson said: “There is another way to see this. If the Republicans want the president to pass legislations on their behalf, they need to collaborate. Remember that the president has a veto. It's going to be a cooperation with mutual interests.”
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
02.11.2010