So, I'm looking for your opinion on last nights election results. Please help this Canadian moose try to understand what the hell just happened. From what I've seen.. 1. Republicans won control of the senate by picking up 7 seats, with the final tally likely being 9 seats, or even 10. 2. Contested governors races that were a coin toss all went the republican way (with the exception of Pennsylvania) Most interesting races were in Wisconsin, where republican gov Scott Walker won his third election in 4 years (Jesus Christ Wisconsin! How many elections do you need???) and Illinois, where democrat gov Quinn lost every last county in his state (with the exception of cook county). This is Obamas home state! (Politically speaking). Wow. So, my question to you guys is, what does all this stuff mean? Are Americans taking their country back? What happened to all the democrats? Why the change in why the change in public opinion? What happens next? Anyhow, I'm absolutely fascinated by what happened last night, and I'd love your opinions and thoughts on it. Talk to the Moose!
It means Americans are rallying against the powers that currently be, which they do quite often. How's Canada Moose? Nice up there?
Isn't the voter turn out in bi elections very low? Maybe the democrats only come out to vote every 4 years.
Excited by the results. Maybe we can moce America towards a working country again, and not just a huge handout line.
Are you saying Obama has turned America I to a socialist WellFare state, and the people are tired of it?
Exactly. I think the working class is tired of supporting those that can, but don't work. I forget the candidate, but I think it was in the 2012 elections one of the republicans slogan was "Vote for me if you would rather have a paycheck than a welfare check," or similar. It didn't work in 2012, but now the working class is starting to see that all this free stuff Obama has been handing out is coming from their pay checks.
What it truly means is you're going to have more company and influx of ppl from here to there as well as other countries
It's not that baffling that the country voted republican this election. They will be unhappy as always with the outcome of that as soon as these guys and gals start making calls just like they get upset with the democrats. This happens a lot. Americans are not informed voters and they are swayed easily by cheap campaign ploys. It's been this way forever. The grass is always greener...etc. we will have a republican president next election and the people will hate him/her too. Lol the only reprieve from the cycle is an independent party being voted in once every 25-50 years
What's wrong with a little socialism? Healthcare and education are great things to give everybody. Guns, not so much. I think I'm going to get hate for that last part..
It's another example of the power of the moderate in America. If the republicans blow it the next 2 years expect the opposite results in 2016. Swing voters always win.
Bad night for the Democrats, but reading some of the comments here I think some people are taking away the wrong lessons from this election. Let's look at a few things. The conservative agenda wasn't exactly a winner here. The GOP learned it's lesson from 2012 and avoided running a lot of the extremists they did last time. No Todd Akins. Their candidates took a much more moderate line this time. Hell, some of them sounded like progressives. They didn't move right. They moved left. Looking at some of the issues, person-hood amendments which are popular with the GOP base were defeated, while minimum wage increases which are popular with the Democratic base were passed. Exit polls also show that immigration reform which is unpopular with the GOP base is popular among voters and a majority support a path to citizenship. For all the screaming about the deficit over the last 4 years, it wasn't even an issue. Same goes for Bengazhi. It wasn't an issue. There's also the fact that many GOP candidates ran on a "government is broken, we need to end grid lock" theme which humorless overlooks the fact that it's the GOP that's been doing it's best to create those conditions. Which kind of puts them in a quandary. Now they have to govern. That may not be easy. Far right conservatives are already calling for more investigations and the repeal of Obamacare. Hell, some are calling for impeachment. That's not governing. Obamacare isn't going to get repealed, Obama isn't going to be impeached, and more investigations aren't going to end grid lock. If the GOP hopes to capitalize on this election in 2016, they're going to have to start dealing with issues. Our immigration policy needs fixing. Our tax policy needs fixing. Our infrastructure needs fixing. We've got to do something about wages. Exit polls show the economy was the number one issue. Despite the rhetoric from the right, the economy HAS improved. Our economy is in much better shape than Europe. The problem is, most of the gains are going to the top. The middle class is still stuck in recession. Tax cuts aren't going to fix that. Trickle Down doesn't work. In 2012 the narrative was the GOP was doomed. They learned their lessons and now they're back. But for how long? According to exit polls, only 41% of voters had a positive view of Obama, but only 38% had a positive view of Republican leaders in Congress. That's not exactly a rousing endorsement for the GOP. And keep in mind, Democratic turn out in mid terms is typically low. They were in 2010. They were low last night. 2016 will be a horse of a different color. The GOP will have a difficult map, with twice as many seats open as the Democrats in an election where the Democratic base has been turning out in high numbers. So the choice is now up to the GOP. They can either start working on solving problems, or they can continue to push obstruction. If they don't think the Democrats can win in 2016 they're making a serious mistake. Republicans had a wave had a wave in 2010. They lost in 2012. It can happen again.