I’m a Democrat. I voted for Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008. I support universal health care, I believe in gay rights, I think we should pull out of Iraq, and I probably wear Birkenstocks while drinking my soy lattes and driving my Volvo.
Oh… and I hope Republicans sweep the midterm elections in 2010.
A lot of ink has been spilled during the past nine months in regards to the supposed ineffectiveness of the new Obama Administration. Despite having a Democratic majority in the House, the Senate, the White House, and the laws of gravity, many have complained – myself included – that President Obama has failed to fulfill many of his campaign promises. Why hasn’t Guantanamo Bay been closed yet? Why has Obama failed to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?" What is his strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq? Why is unemployment continuing to rise? Where is his administration’s transparency and openness?
Most importantly, where’s the unicorn and everlasting peace I was promised?
Perhaps what Obama needs, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, is more resistance. After all, what good is a Democratic majority if nothing is done with it?
During the 1994 midterm elections when Bill Clinton was president, Democrats lost 54 seats in the House and 8 seats in the Senate. These results prompted some to believe that the loss of Democrats in Congress was a ‘referendum’ on Bill Clinton’s presidency. However, a sitting president’s political party losing seats in the House and the Senate isn’t abnormal; in fact, this has been the case in nearly every single administration since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Consider the following. The House lost:
- 45 Democrat seats in 1942 when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president.
- 54 Democrat seats in 1946 when Harry S. Truman was president.
- 28 more Democrat seats in 1950 when Harry S. Truman was president.
- 18 Republican seats in 1954 when Dwight E. Eisenhower was president.
- 48 more Republican seats in 1958 when Dwight E. Eisenhower was president.
- 4 Democrat seats in 1962 when John F. Kennedy was president.
- 48 Democrat seats in 1966 when Lyndon Johnson was president.
- 12 Republican seats in 1970 when Richard Nixon was president.
- 48 more Republican seats in 1974 when Richard Nixon was president.
- 15 Democrat seats in 1978 when Jimmy Carter was president.
- 26 Republican seats in 1982 when Ronald Reagan was president.
- 5 Republican seats in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president.
- 8 Republican seats in 1990 when George Bush was president.
- 54 Democrat seats in 1994 when Bill Clinton was president.
- 1 partridge in a pear tree.
In fact, the first president in 70 years to break this trend during his first term was none other than…George W. Bush. In 2002, Republicans actually gained 8 seats in the House and 2 in the Senate.
The point is, a president’s political party almost always loses seats in the House and the Senate during the midterm elections. This encourages progress and balance, and discourages corruption and apathy. Why does this matter? The Founding Fathers of this country recognized a need for checks and balances. For that reason, we have three branches of government, two senators for every state, and American Idol every January.
The Founding Fathers understood that progress would only be achieved by a balance between liberals and conservatives. The Obama Administration has not accomplished much to date despite the Democratic majority in the House and the Senate – ergo, it is worth asking: would he be more successful if he was met with more resistance?
I’m not ready to write off Barack Obama just yet. I still believe that he can and will accomplish great things with his presidency. However, it may require Republicans pushing against him in 2010, for him to begin pushing back and getting real things done.
Until then, I’m going to sit back, relax, enjoy my soy latte, and take a nice long Sunday drive in my Volvo.
