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November 05, 2008

Dem Gains In Congress Bring Responsibility

By Reid Wilson

After making history as the first African American candidate elected President on the United States, Barack Obama will make preparations to head to the White House aided by greatly expanded Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. The new power Democrats hold will give them, or burden them with, a mandate to act on pressing crises that have Americans more overwhelmingly pessimistic about the direction of the country than at virtually any other time in history.

The Democratic wins were sweeping, as the party picked up seats stretching from New York City to the Black Belt of Alabama, from the desert lands of the Navajo Nation to the sunny climes of Florida. With a dozen districts yet to be determined, the party is expected to end the election with at least a seventeen-seat gain and a pickup of as many as a twenty five-seat gain.

In the Senate, Democrats picked up at least five seats through the early morning hours, knocking off Republican incumbents in New Hampshire and North Carolina while winning open seats in Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado. Early this morning, Democrats appeared to have narrowly missed opportunities to knock off Republican incumbents in Oregon and Alaska, while the Minnesota Senate race appeared headed for a recount.

Democrats added to their majorities thanks to winning a majority of votes in every region of the country, according to exit polls released after the polls closed. From the Northeast, where voters favored Democrats by a 62%-36% margin, to the South, where the party won a slim 50%-47% majority, Democrats gained seats in each region.

As in 1992, concerns about the economy dominated Congressional elections, a factor that worked strongly in Democrats' favor. Of the 86% who said they were worried about economic conditions, 56% voted for Democratic congressional candidates, while Republicans won a 56% majority among the just 13% who said they aren't worried about the economy. Half of voters said they thought the economic crisis would hurt their families, and two-thirds of those voters backed Democrats.

Domestic energy exploration, once a top GOP issue, turned out not to be the vote-mover Republicans had once hoped. Exit polls show Republican House candidates only won a majority among the 43% who strongly favored offshore drilling, while those who somewhat favored the proposal voted with Democrats by a 63%-35% margin. Democrats overwhelmingly won the 28% who said they somewhat or strongly opposed new drilling.

Though Democrats had an impressive night, Republicans results in House and Senate elections were not as bad as they could have been. The party saved two contested House seats in Minnesota, two seats in Cuban American-heavy South Florida and a smattering of seats that might otherwise have been in jeopardy. And, unlike in 2006, the party actually won back at least four Democratic-held seats, three of which the party lost in 2006 and the fourth went to Democrats in a June special election.

Still, Democrats will have a distinct majority in the 111th Congress. With that authority, they will find, comes responsibility and, if abdicated, blame, something the party had been able to avoid even as they held narrow majorities in both houses in the 110th Congress.

Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will not have a blank check to push the Democratic agenda. They will contend with a strong contingent of conservative Blue Dog Democrats, and with fiscally prudent New Democrats, a less influential group that still weilds power, all while keeping liberals in the fold.

In fact, the three leaders themselves do not hail from the same ideological spectrum or employ the same stylistic methods. Reid is a cool-headed tactician with moderate tendencies. Pelosi is a liberal street-fighter trained in the art of political warfare in old-school Baltimore. And Obama, promising to bring a new style of politics with him to Washington, is a thoughtful and, by all appearances, cautious leader.

The ideological diversity in the Democratic caucus, a key to the party's ability to building a majority as well as the diversity of style among the architects of that majority portend a Democratic Party that will require deal-making and corralling to a degree most party leaders are only now beginning to recognize. Though they control the House and Senate by overwhelming margins, the party is by no means monolithic of purpose on each policy point.

In an election dominated by President Bush's mistakes -- first on Iraq, then on the economy -- Democrats now have to be for something, as opposed to against Republicans. The party has an ambitious agenda, but enacting it, even with large majorities, will not be easy.

Those considerations, however, begin tomorrow. As Democrats reach for the champagne and Republicans pull out something stronger, the country has undergone an historic election that generations will remember. Democrats have the opportunity to do something in power, thanks to greatly expanded majorities.

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