Americans Head to the Polls in Ten Days
Hadiza Wada, DBA ...October 23, 2010
Democrats, the nation’s President also a Democrat, and most of other high ranking members of the government are busy doing all they can to mobilize their voters in the final days of campaigning for midterm elections. They are working very hard because most polls suggest a significant gain by Republicans in the upcoming elections. But the question is, is it unusual for congressional make up of both parties to undergo significant changes in midterm elections? Is the outcome of the elections a decisive measure of the effectiveness of the Obama Administration? This is one key issue to bring up as many people analyze why the polls continue to show impending gains by the Republican Party.
Looking at past records of the balance of power in the capital Washington D.C., the Congress and the President have most of the time been at odds; that is, the same political party has not typically controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives at the same time. Because of midterm elections, which come within two years of general elections that usher in Presidents, this phenomena usually presents itself, where the party that had just come into the White House most probably with corresponding gains in the congress, loses its majority in either the House, or the Senate two years later at midterm elections. That in essence forces consensus, debate, and concessions by the government in power before legislations are made into law.
That equation however does not mean that the party standing to lose seats in the balance of power does not put its best efforts to continue to hold onto all its seats. As we write, top Officials continue to campaign for their party’s candidates across the nation.
President Obama has been on a whirlwind campaign trail that is taking him to five states within four days, where he spoke today in Minnesota stressing his standard campaign message, which is calling on voters to continue to support his party’s candidates as they work on reversing the Republican Administrations crippling economic policies. “This election is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of this mess,” Obama said, as he continues to repeat and urge 2008 voters that brought his government into power, to come out again for the 2010 vote.
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Vice President John Biden, Former President Bill Clinton, as well as the First Lady Michelle Obama are also on the trail campaigning in states that political strategists believe they will make the best impact. Some sources suggest that the President and his Vice draw different crowds and supporters, explaining why Biden is attending to states they believe candidates were cautious of Obama policies due to the impact of the “tea party” crowd that champion conservative Republican ideals. An online publican Politico reports that “Unlike Obama — who has dipped into some big-money red states, such as Texas, to raise money for Democratic Party organizations — Biden makes the majority of his stops on behalf of individual candidates. And it’s not just the quantity of Biden’s visits that stands out; it’s where he makes them.”
The current make-up of the U.S. Senate is 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and two Independents. That has thus far made it easier for the democrats to pass legislations by trying to persuade the independents, even when members from the Republican Party are unwilling to go along. As for the 435 seat lower house, i.e. the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats currently hold 256 seats while 178 seats are occupied by the Republicans with one vacancy. All members of the House are facing re-election in 2010. While many sources are not predicting a shift with democrats losing their majority in the House, the Democrats are poised for bigger loss than Republican for the balance of power factor on the one hand, and also the fact that they have more seats up for grabs in the election.
Historically, 34 of the 50 U.S. states elect their governors to four-year terms during midterm elections, while Vermont and New Hampshire elect governors to two-year terms in both midterm and presidential elections. Thirty Six (36) states are holding gubernatorial elections in 2010 as analyst predict a tough election battle for incumbents also.
Midterm elections refer to general elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial (four-year) elections for the President of the United States (i.e. near the midpoint of the four-year presidential term). Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms are members of the United States Congress, including all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, and the full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate.
The electorate head for the polls on Tuesday November 2, 2010.
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