Below is an interesting video I found where Chris Cillizza, a respected political blogger, spoke about the 2010 midterm election results and challenges facing Republican and Democratic members in the 112th Congress. He also responded to questions from the audience. Source: C-Span.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Critical Elections & Electoral Realignments
November 9, 2010
After the results of the November 2nd Midterm Election, we have learned that the Republicans have gained control of the House of Representatives. Because we have had a Democratic President, and the House and Senate controlled by the Democrats for the past two years, this marks a big change that will be occurring in our government in these next couple months. The Republicans gaining control of the House proves how this was a critical midterm election and how the country is realigning because of it.
To break it down, the House of Representatives now has 239 Republicans and 189 Democrats. The Republicans needed 39 seats to gain control and in the end gained over 60+ seats, therefore at the same time the Democrats lost 60 seats. The reason why this is so monumental is because historically the shift in these numbers hasn’t been to this large of an extent. In 2006, the Democrats gained 31 seats and in 2008 they gained 24 seats. Since the Republicans gained over 60 seats this proves how much of an enormous impact this midterm election will have on our government when it officially changes in a couple months. The last three comparable surges like this once we are seeing now were during the Republican Revolution in 1994, where 54 seats changed, the Watergate Babies, when 48 seats changed, and a long time ago in 1948 when the Democrats picked up a large amount of seats. This once again reiterates how much of an impact this election will have considering so many seats changed and the Republicans took control of the House.
The House Republican Leader is John Boehner and he has a long road ahead of him as far as the things he wants to accomplish now that the Republicans are in control. Boehner vowed to fulfill his party's "pledge" to cut spending and reduce the size of government, saying he's willing to work with President Obama if he "respects the will of the people" and changes course. Now that the Democrats don’t have complete control over the government and the Republicans have taken over the House, it will be interesting to see the changes that are made over the course of the next two years!
*Map of the United States, Democratic vs. Republican states, after November 2, 2010 Midterm Election. Source: Fox News.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Conclusion: Elections & Governance
November 2, 2010
William Keating, flanked by his wife, Tevis, and his daughter, Kristen, delivers his congressional victory speech at the Neighborhood Club in Quincy Tuesday night. The Democrat waged a blistering campaign against Republican Jeffrey Perry of Sandwich.CCT/Christine Hochkeppel
Jeffrey Perry, of Sandwich, sprints to the stage at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis Tuesday night to thank his supporters in his Republican bid for Congress.
Cape Cod Times/Merrily Cassidy
Today is the day! It has finally arrived. After following the race for the 10th District of Massachusetts closely for the past few months, I was very excited to hear the outcome when the polls closed tonight. Because this is such a tight race, it was really hard to make a prediction this morning which candidate would end up pulling this one off. But in the end, the Democratic candidate Bill Keating ended up being victorious! This race marks who important the constituency influence is in Congress.
The Republican candidate, Jeff Perry, came up short tonight by only 5 percentage points. The race was tight throughout the night and the numbers were slow to come in throughout the district. According to the Cape Cod Times, Keating received 132,582 (47%) while Perry received 119,829 (42%). As far as the three independent candidates, Maryanne Lewis made the biggest impact, receiving 16,673 (6%). James Sheets, who was seen by some as a political move to take votes away from Keating, received 10,438 (4%). He was viewed in this light because he is friends with Republican Ron Kaufman who is a powerful figure that endorsed Perry. Lastly, Joseph van Nes, who was just barely old enough to even run for Congress, received 3,075 (1%).
This race gained national attention because it was the only highly contested race in Massachusetts. It is extremely important to recognize that although Perry did not beat Keating, this race once again shows the political changes in the usually very Democratic state of Massachusetts. Many say the state is shifting towards being a Republican state after years and years of a reputation of being extremely Democratic. In January of 2010, Republican Scott Brown won the late senator Ted Kennedy’s spot (who had held the seat since 1972) and this monumental event marked the change that is occurring throughout this state.
Keating will be taking the place of U.S. Representative William Delahunt who decided to retire after seven terms in the House of Representatives. The results of this race show how important the constituency influence is in Congress and how every single vote has the ability to affect what is happening in Washington. Election Day was particularly important this year due to the closeness of so many races and the opportunity for one party or the other to gain or lose control of the House and the Senate.
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