Realistically, as soon as the economy started showing signs of a major crash, couldn't any intelligent person predict the next two (and maybe three) election results after we saw how bad things really were?
Everyone wants to blame someone when things go bad. In 2008, the voters spoke out loud and clear, ushering in all the Dems to replace the big bad Reps who allowed it to happen. When the Dems couldn't fix the worst economic slump of our generation in the span of two years, which would have been a miracle for either party in that short time frame, the nation sent another loud message that the Dems didn't do enough to fix things. So now the pendulum swings back the other way. Seems like the American voter flip flops more than John Kerry these days.
Did anyone honestly believe the economy was going to be turned around by now, no matter who was running the show in Washington? Be honest now and answer without being partisan. With as deep as the problems were, who really expected Washington had the power to fix (or even improve) the economy in the short term? Hell, the Iraq/Afghanistan wars alone have cost us almost a trillion dollars. With the economic collapse and the cost of the wars, how could Washington possibly do anything to have a positive short term impact? Aren't the expectations just a little unrealistic?
Had Republicans been in power the past two years, would there have been much of a difference today? I don't know that the Dems answer to the problem has worked out all that well - throwing more money at it - but I can understand why they tried it. I can't see how spending cuts would work out that much better. Maybe cutting back on some of the regulation that small businesses face would help. Though I'd be worried if the financial markets were any less regulated after what just happened. The bottom line is I haven't heard any real good solutions, only blame and accusations from critics.
So where do we go from here? What do these election results mean for the average American? Does it mean both parties will stop fighting and start working together? Does it mean that the economy will recover that much faster in the coming two years? Will unemployment and underemployment dramatically decrease? Will jobs just start appearing when government spending gets cut? Will the newly elected leaders who just got sent to Washington to implement change deliver on their promise? Will the hatred between parties and voters decrease, along with all the name calling and insults?
It's not any of the big issues that took center stage in this election that has me jaded, it's the utter lack of civility between lawmakers and among the citizens that has me so turned off these days. Everyone thinks their opinion is the right opinion and we are becoming more divided every day. So much hypocrisy on both sides. This trend started before Obama got elected and it continues to worsen - I know much of it has to do with the poor economy, as problems always get magnified in bad times. But I just don't see how anything positive will get done with as negative as everything has become on both sides of the party line.
What I do know is this - if things don't improve dramatically in the next two years, expect another shake-up in Washington on both sides of the aisle, as both sides will now share some of the blame. And all you will see is blame being tossed around while efforts to fix the nation's problems take a backseat to sabotaging the other party. Joy.
How can elected officials be expected to work together when the voters are so heavily divided and angry?
Again, seems any of us could have easily predicted this election 2 years ago.
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