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U.S. President Barack Obama pauses during remarks to the Congressional Blac...
Washington: US President Barack Obama will have no choice but to work with Republicans to pass the rest of his domestic legislative agenda after his Democratic Party suffered a landslide defeat in Congressional elections.
The conservative Republican Party captured more than 50 seats in the House of Representatives in Tuesday's election, a result that leaves them in firm control of the lower chamber for the first time since 2006.
Republicans also made significant gains in the US Senate, but projections showed Democrats maintained a slim majority of at least 50 seats in the 100-member upper chamber.
Tuesday's defeat comes after Obama was elected in 2008 on a message of change that energised voters across the political spectrum. Two years later pollster John Zogby said it was clear that 'change is in the air' once again.
The massive losses suffered by Obama's Democrats were largely due to the weak state of the US
economy, which is likely to be the top priority when the new Congress convenes in January.
Exit polls from Tuesday's election found that more than 60 percent of voters rated the sluggish economy as their top concern. Unemployment remains stuck at 9.6 percent and the world's largest economy grew a meagre 2 percent in the third quarter of this year.
Obama used much of his political capital in the first two years to pass controversial overhauls of health care and financial regulation. Critics argue the efforts distracted from the task of repairing the economy, while other voters complain that Obama overreached by expanding the role of government over key sectors of the economy.
Republican John Boehner, who is set to lead the House in January, said the election results marked 'a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government, and a repudiation of politicians who refused to listen to the American people'.
The shift in congressional power means Obama will have to curb his ambitions as he tries to work with Republicans in the next few years. Some major casualties are likely to be efforts to tackle climate change and reform immigration laws.
The Democratic Party's defeat means Republicans will once again have a hand in governing. In a US capital that has become intensely polarised over the last few years, the question will be if there are areas where the two sides can find common ground.
Obama charged often in his first few years that Republicans refused to work with the new president on key legislative issues. With control of Congress now divided, Republicans could share some blame in the coming years if the economy does not improve.
'It's a lot easier to run against a 'do nothing' Congress that's run by the opposition than it is to run against a 'do nothing' Congress that is run by your own party,' Zogby said.
Obama spoke with Boehner as the results became clear Tuesday night. US media have speculated that Obama may call a 'summit' with Republicans some time in November to discuss a way forward.
But the Republican victories on Tuesday night were not just a rejection of Obama, they were a broader rejection of lawmakers. Voters threw out incumbents and showed disillusionment with both parties.
Approval ratings for Obama have hovered around 45 percent for much of this year. Approval of Congress has been stuck just below 20 percent, according to averages compiled by realclearpolitics.com.
'There were no heroes and there's no love from voters,' Zogby said. Obama and the Democrats' missteps of the past two years 'did spell victory for Republicans, but not love'.
Yet even if Republicans now have a governing role, John Fortier of the conservative Washington-based American Enterprise Institute said the responsibility will still be on Obama to drive the legislative agenda in the coming year.
'The ultimate focus will be on the president,' Fortier said. 'How the president himself recovers from the election will be much more important than (what) Republicans do.'
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Democrats lose House, cling to Senate, Nikki Haley wins (Roundup) |
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| 2010-11-03 17:10:00 |
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Washington, Nov 3 (IANS) Days ahead of his visit to India, US President Barack Obama saw his Democratic party suffer a near rout. The Republicans wrested majority control of the US House of Representatives in Tuesday's midterm elections but Democrats retained their hold of the Senate.
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The other highlight of the electoral results was the victory of Indian-American Nikki Haley, daughter of Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar who became the first woman to win the governor's race in South Carolina. All six other Indian-Americans lost.
With results still coming in, the extent of the Republican takeover of the 435-member House was still not known. But CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 52 more House seats than they now hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years.
Only two years ago, the same millions across the US had given Obama a huge thumbs up, stunning the Republicans. All 435 seats in the House and 37 seats in the Senate were up for grabs Tuesday as were 37 governorships and many state and local positions. Republican John Boehner is likely to become the Speaker of the House -- and the third most powerful politician in the US.
Addressing a victory rally in the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington, Boehner said: 'The American people have sent an unmistakeable message to (Obama) tonight, and that message is 'change course'.'
Nikki Haley, the first Indian American woman to become a governor in the US, was born Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa. She will be America's second Indian-American governor after Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, also a Republican who won three years ago.
Republican candidates also were running strong in governors' races. Democrats were guaranteed to hold at least 50 of the 100 Senate seats with a handful of close races still outstanding, according to CNN's analysis of exit poll data.
Whatever the final make-up of the Senate, it will include no African-American members. The only current African-American senator, Roland Burris of Illinois, is retiring. None of the community's three candidates won Tuesday. In the House, Republicans picked up seats in a broad swath across the country, including victories over one-term Democrats who came to power in traditionally GOP districts in 2008.
Republicans needed a net gain of only three governorships Tuesday for a majority nationally. Often overshadowed during midterm campaigns, governorships can influence national politics by their influence in the redistricting of state electorates.
The last major landslide in a mid-term election came in 1994 when Republicans recaptured both the House and Senate two years into former president Bill Clinton's term. Conservatives had then gained 54 House seats. CNN showed that economy was the dominant issue for voters, and indicated that key constituencies shifted from supporting Democrats in 2008 to voting for Republicans this time.
One reason is likely opposition to the health care reform bill pushed through Congress over Republican opposition by Obama and Democratic leaders. While Obama pledged the reforms would improve Medicare, Republican opponents warned of service cuts and higher costs.
Heated campaigning continued to the last minute Tuesday, with Obama and Bill Clinton urging Democrats and independents to hold off a Republican surge while Republicans promised to change how Washington runs. In a last-minute bid to stem the losses, Obama made a round of radio interviews and sent out First Lady Michelle Obama and the charismatic Bill Clinton on the campaign trail.
'I want everyone to remember that you can't shape your future if you don't participate,' DPA quoted Obama as saying. 'You've got to get out there and vote.' ============================================== |
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