Major Course Correction Needed

Scrap that, continue on Democrats! Is anybody really shocked by this? Yeah, maybe if you'd been on a family vacation at the hottest resort on Mars for a year, you'd be surprised, but otherwise no big shock here.

This got me to thinking. Is this expected gain for the Republicrats a result of people becoming wise to the error of liberal ways, or is it merely disdain for the party in power? Nearly each of the last 6 Presidents has seen their approval numbers dip below the 50% mark, so being an unpopular CIC, is not unprecedented. However, to fall so far so fast?

I would argue that a large amount of the backlash within this country stems from the President's misreading of the election results last November. They read it as a landslide victory and a mandate for Obama's agenda to be carried out. However, there was no significant increase in voter turnout versus the last few Presidential election cycles. As a matter of fact, the increased voter margin that Obama experienced is roughly equal to the amount of additional voters this cycle, approximately 4 million voters. Considering the number of Republicans that sat out this election cycle (2.08 million), had Obama actually earned himself a landslide and a mandate, the margin of victory should have been significantly higher than it was. Just to chase this rabbit a little further, the man Barack Obama owes his election to most significantly is George W. Bush. Had public sentiment not weighed so heavily against Bush during the last 2 years of his term, this election would have been significantly closer and likely would have resulted in a McCain victory. *Shudder

All of this to say, Obama has misread his so called mandate and in his effort to push through sweeping reforms has caused outrage amongst the electorate and citizenry. I predict that during the next two national election cycles (2010 & 2012) the United States will see a dramatic increase in the number of registered voters, and size of election day turnout. Just as Barack Obama owes his Presidential victory to George W. Bush, gains made by the Republicans in 2010 and 2012 are owed significantly to Barack Obama.

At the end of the day, however, I believe that there is a general disdain for whomever holds the highest office and by proxy whichever party the President belongs to.


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