Democrats humbled, Obama faces tough days
With the Republicans, who already control the US House of Representatives, now taking charge of the Senate, President Barack Obama's remaining two years in office are bound to be challenging. He may not be rendered a lame duck President just yet, but there is no doubt that the sheen of the Obama presidency will erode quicker than expected. The voters have already made it clear that they are not satisfied with the manner in which the country is being run —President Obama's popularity rankings have been dipping steadily — and exit polls had also indicated that the Democrats would have a tough fight ahead of them. Still, few in the Blue camp had possibly expected such a “shellacking”, to use a term that President Obama had used in 2010, when his party lost control of the House.
For the first time since 2006, the Republicans now control more than half of the 100 seats in the US Senate. To make matters worse, the Democrats also lost gubernatorial races in States like North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa that only a few years ago had swept Mr Obama to power. Even Maryland and Massachusetts, that have traditionally voted Blue, went Red this time around while Virginia and New Hampshire, considered to be Democratic strongholds, just about stayed Blue. But the unkindest cut of all came from Illinois, Mr Obama's home State, where the Democratic candidate was defeated even though the President himself had campaigned for him. Outside of the Senate, the Republicans were also able to expand their presence in the House, thereby giving them a much tighter control of Congress overall.
The past six years of the Obama presidency have seen an unprecedented amount of partisan politics, and clearly, the people want no more of that any longer. However, give the new circumstances, it is unlikely that the situation will get any better over the next two years. The President's signature legislation, Obamacare, will once again come under assault, and it is unclear as to what extent Mr Obama will be able to defend it. Also, the tug-of-war over the contentious immigration reform Bill will quite possibly continue as there is no agreement between the two parties on how to strike a balance between fewer deportations, enhanced border security and the legalisation of millions of undocumented workers.
On the foreign policy front, the Obama Administration will try harder to finalise some sort of a nuclear deal with Iran (or else, it will have nothing else to show there after eight years in power), but again, it is unlikely the Republicans will allow him an easy pass. Mr Obama is now left with this weapon of last resort — his Presidential veto. He has used that only twice since he was sworn into office but may have to bring out more often now. Finally, the mid-term election, having almost deflated the incumbent Government, has also focussed attention on the 2016 presidential race. But, here too, the Obama shadow will loom large on the next Democratic candidate.