A big reason for the lack of policy-making in DC for the last couple of years has been a split Congress. Republicans control the House and the Democrats control the Senate, but that might not be the case after the upcoming midterms. Read this article about Harry Reid and the Democrat's strategy to maintain control of the Senate and this article on the possibility of Republicans moving to the center to try and win the independent vote, and Senate seats in the process. Answer the following questions and make any additional comments, questions or analysis you deem important or interesting:
1. Do you think the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate this fall? Why or why not? What seats are most important for the Republicans to win and how many o they need?
2. What strategy should the Republicans take to win back the Senate in November? A move to the middle or a focus on Harry Reid and unsuccessful Democratic policies? Be sure to explain why you think so for full credit.
3. What are some political implications if the Republicans win back control of the Senate as a result of the 2014 midterms(and also presumably keep the House of Reps as they are expected to)? Do you think this will create more cooperation between the branches of government? Less cooperation? Will we see more policies passed or fewer? Explain your reasoning for full credit.
25 comments:
1. I do not think that the Democrats will win because they are focusing on the wrong issues. They have ignored the Republican Party and solely focused on getting bills passed. According to Politico’s article, “Democrats have repeatedly put forth bills that have little chance of passing…” While failing to get bills passed, Republicans are targeting the Democrat’s Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid. I feel that even though Reid says that they’ve fallen into his “trap”, this is all a cover up to hide the fact that Democrats are in danger of losing control of the Senate.
2. I believe that the Republicans should make a move to the middle in order to win back the Senate. A move to middle means that they’ll attain favor within the Republican Party and Democratic Party. According to the Washington Post article, they are making certain changes such as education reform for illegal immigrants, over-the-counter birth control pills, and “personhood”. These are issues that a lot of Democrats are focusing on. With the attainment of Democratic supporters, I believe it’ll increase the amount of Republican votes. It has been mentioned that base Republicans and extremists are likely to oppose and not vote. If so, they still are most likely not going to vote for Democratic Senators due to their traditional, extremist theories and beliefs. With this being said, the Republican’s loss compared to their gain will be little to none, allowing their voters to increase and possibly assist in helping them win back the Senate.
3. I believe that we will see less cooperation because of the diversity in offices. Our President, Barack Obama, is a Democrat. Our Senate and House of Representatives will be majority, Republican. It is not likely that they will agree on policies. Whenever, a bill is written, there is a strong possibility that our President will veto it and vice versa. I feel that we will see fewer policies passed because as a Democrat in his last 2 years in the House, I do not believe he will make moves to pass laws he doesn’t agree with before his term is over. He has to think about his legacy, the future President and most importantly, the people.
1. I think the democrats will win the Senate because the Republicans are so generally unpopular at this point. Being blamed for the government shutdown, as well as controlling the House, the Republican party does not currently have a good standing with the american people, which wouldn't make them want to vote for them.
2. Republicans should choose to stand more in the middle for election time, if they want to win the Senate. Standing so far on the edge, and being so incredibly radical is what caused the government shutdown to occur in the first place. They are much more likely to get people to listen to them and win seats if they take more moderate positions on the issues.
3. Republicans will then have full control of the legislative branch, meaning more policies will be passed through that stage. However, with the democratic president, who received no assistance from the Republicans in the House of Representatives beforehand, it can be expected that a Republican based legislative branch will have more than it's fair share of bills vetoed, especially without Obama having to worry about re-election.
1. I don't believe that the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate because Americans are fed up with Obama who is a democrat, and in return they will take it out on the others. Also the Republicans who are running for the seats in the Senate are putting forth moderate campaigns which appeals more to the public. The Republicans are most concerned to win 6 seats in the Senate because that's how much they need in order to take the majority. New Hampshire, Colorado, Alaska, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Louisiana are the seats with the greatest importance to them, because they're the battleground states that are up for grabs.
2.The Republicans need to maintain a moderate strategy, a move to the middle, because if they go too far to the right they will turn people away. This includes supporting increased minimum wage, gender pay equity, and student loan assistance. They should also focus on how ineffective the government has been. If the government is ineffective under democrat control people will be willing to switch so things finally get done.
3. If the Republicans are in control of the Senate and the House of Reps, they will likely pass bills that Obama will Veto. So in their political games they will make Obama look back, show how Obama can't get anything done, and then in the 2016 elections a Republican president will be elected. They're still going to run into issues because Obama is a democrat, so they're going to play politics. Cooperation among the Legislative branch will go up because the entire thing will be controlled by the same group. Cooperation among the Legislative and Executive branch will not change from how it is now. Policies will still have a hard time getting passed as long as Obama is president because he's most likely not going to agree with Senate and House of Reps.
1. I don’t think that the democrats will have control over the senate for much longer because according to the first article, it seems like the democrats are failing to do anything right to keep the senate theirs. Why try to pass major bills when you know that they will be vetoed? Why not try to amend the bills to make it more appealing to the population to make them want to pass the bill?
2. I think at this point, they need to move to the middle. Yes some people are fed up with the senate right now and want to see a change so their vote will be easy to get, it will be getting the other people to also join along. Moving to the middle will not only focus on the republican viewpoints but also some of the democratic views that they have some similarity in. Therefore, this will allow for more people to be willing to listen to the new plans and ideas and possibly move.
3. If republicans take control over both the senate and the house of reps, many bills will be vetoed by the president because he is a democrat, but the legislative branch may be able to pass it if he vetoes it. If the president and congress can’t pass anything with new bills, the president will be out first since it would be his seat that would be up for grabs next and a republican president will more than likely become the new president,.
I don't think that democrats will win the senate. This is because their focus is solely based on winning. They aren't focusing on the real issues, but on how they can get votes. Also the republicans are focusing on topics that have come up a lot in the last few years, and that will most likely get them more votes. According to recent polls about Obama, many of the people that voted for him stated they wouldn't have based on how he has run the country if they had known he would do it. I realize Obama is not in the senate, but he is a democrat, and due to many Americans not knowing much about politics, (mainly younger generations) they would group them together. Basically, a democrat is a democrat and a republican a republican, even though each individual has his or her own opinions. I believe that the republicans should focus on moving to the middle. The younger generation would be more likely to vote for them if so, and many democrats may choose to come over to the republicans side because of it. Again, the issues the republicans seem to be focusing on in their move to the middle are issues that have come up in conversation a lot. Things such as education, medical marijuana, and birth control, and it may not have said anything about pro-life, pro-choice in particular, but I feel that this would be included in their move. I think that having both a senate, and a House of Representatives held by republicans would not affect things too much. Mainly just because they would try to pass laws that Obama would just end up vetoing. Except, of course policies referring to issues such as birth control, etc. which would come up if the republicans did, in fact, move to the middle, since these issues would most likely be something they would both agree upon, as rare as that is. However, depending on who gets voted president next, (since Obama's second term is ending fairly soon) it could potentially turn our government fully republican if we were to also elect a republican president, which would then have a great affect.
I don’t think that the democrats will maintain control of the senate this fall because they are not being productive with their work. They are constantly putting forth bills that are very unnecessary and those bills aren’t even being passed.
The Republicans should stay in the middle because if they are too radical or too soft, they will most likely not be able to win back the senate in November.
I feel that there will be less cooperation because if the republicans are trying to pass a bill, their bill will most likely be vetoed by the president because the president is a democrat. Honestly, I feel that if the republicans win back the senate, nothing will get done. Very few policies will be passed.
1. I do not fully believe that the Democrats will be able to sustain power and control over the Senate.This is because their works are solely focused on winning. It also seems as if the Democrats are ultimately failing to keep the Senate in check. Pushing forth bills that are not even being passed seems very unnecessary.
2. Honestly at this point in time the Republicans need to make a neutral decision, moving to the middle. This would allow for both viewpoints to be expressed. Being too radical could lose the election for them. People are more likely to listen and respond effectively if a more neutral position is thrown at them.
3. If the Republicans were to be in control of both the Senate and the House of Reps the President is more than likely going to veto any bills passed.The cooperation level will decrease because of the differing parties in office. From this many policies will have a tough time getting passed.
1. I'm torn between thinking Democrats will keep the Senate and REpublicans will take the Senate. On one hand the Democratic Senate has not gotten much done, however, the REpublicans are largely blamed for the government shut-down, so neither group is necessarily in favor with the American people right now. The Republicans need six seats and, as the article says, already has three of them- Montana, West Virginia, and South Dakota. The battleground states that they need to try and win over include Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Colorado.
2. Of the two options, I think that the best route for the Republicans to take would be moving toward the middle. However, I do not think either option would necessarily guarantee Republican success. For instance, I think focusing on Reid and all of his shortcomings is a bad plan because it only focuses on one man and not the actual issues. Moving towards the middle, I think, would be more successful since it focuses on the issues, however I do not think it will necessarily work because many Republicans would be angered by a move to the middle.
3. I think that a Republican majority in the House and Senate would attempt to pass bills that would then be vetoed by Obama, creating further tensions. At this point our country is so polarized between Republicans and Democrats that it is nearly impossible to get anything done, and I doubt that will change anytime soon.
1. I don't think the democrats will win, since they are focusing on bills that aren't very popular and will not attract people to vote for them.
2. I believe the Republicans should move to the middle because focusing on Harry Reid won't get them anywhere, since in the article it says that many people don't even know who he is. This way, they will gain more of the independent votes, even if they lose the extremely conservative votes.
3. There will be less cooperation because fewer policies would get passed. The strife between the Senate and the President would mean nothing would be getting done.
(1B)
1. I believe that Democrats will keep control of the Senate come this fall, mainly due to their platform and ideals. Typically, an American favors Democrats more on several issues, and this is why the Democrats have current control of the Senate. Even though national approval of Obama- a democratic president- is seriously low, this doesn’t change the thoughts of people on national issues. On the other hand, for Republicans to win, they would need to win all red states, and possibly a couple blue states.
2. In order to attempt a victory in the Senate, Republicans should facilitate a truthful move to the middle, rather than attack persons such as Reid. By shifting their stance into the center a bit more, not only will it not be an aggressive move that would be frowned upon by the nation, but a centered platform would allow for most citizens to agree with them. As most people are split between the left and right platforms, one that focuses ideals to the center would allow for many Americans to agree with them, and essentially vote there.
3. In regards to a Republican Senate victory, this would lead to more and less cooperation between branches of the government, depending on how the Republicans win. If they had moved to the center and stuck with the new platform, there would be more cooperation, as their platform would connect more with what the Democrats want policy-wise. However, if the move was only for votes, there would be no cooperation, as there would be two conflicting branches of government that refuse to work together on many issues, and thus less passed policies.
1. I don't believe democrats will maintain control of the senate, only if the republicans take their chances in the election and attempt to take the democratic spot. This could very likely happen because the democratic focus isn't as sharp on specific matters as it should be, therefore the people would rather see a new party come in and attempt at fixing what is needed within the government.
2. Moving toward the middle could possibly backfire at the republicans, but at the same time it could be a beneficial move to the republicans in gaining majority votes. Focusing on Harry Reid and many of the problems that surround him could affect republicans chances of winning because they'll focus more of their attention on the mistakes of an individual instead of becoming stronger themselves.
3. If republicans win back the senate the political landscape will change in such a way as possibly becoming closer in policy to the democrats therefore running in favor of the majority of the people's wants and needs.
1. I don't think that the Democrats will maintain control of the senate this fall because they are only focused on winning rather than worldwide issues. They are also pushing for bills that have a very slim chance of even being passed.
2. The Republicans should move toward the middle. This would help in the long run because both democrat and republican view points will be heard, and people would be open to listen to both sides. This also allows for a larger scope of people.
3. If republicans win back the senate the political landscape would change and there would be even less cooperation because of the differences of parties in office. Very few policies would end up actually being passed. The policies would have a greater chance of being vetoed by our president.
1.) I do not think the democrats because right now the issues they are paying attention to, and their overall image right now is not promising.
2.) The republicans should take a step down for their firm conservative stance and try to connect with the middle. They should also reconsider some of the ideas they have pushed away for so long. If the republicans do not compromise they will not appeal to the mass majority.
3.) This will not create more cooperation, republicans will dominate both the house and senate. Therefore nothing will be accomplished because being that Obama is democrat he will veto the bills of the republicans, so it will be a continuous cycle of no progress.
1) I don't think Democrats will win the Senate because many Americans don't agree with the decisions Democrats/Obama is making right now. They need to start focusing more on what people agree with and bills that will help everyone in the long run.
2) I think a move to the middle would work in order to win back the Senate. They can still keep some of the ideas that Democrats had, but focus more on what the people want and see why they weren't very fond of the Democrats to begin with. They need to see views that the majority of the people want.
3) I think having the Republicans win senate will cause problems because Obama will not agree with their views or ideas of how to run the country. I think we won't get very far and policies won't get passed because nobody will be able to reach a consensus.
(1B)
1)I think that the Democrats will maintain the Senate this fall. The issues and ideas that the Democrats focus on seem to be things that the nation want to make relevant and take part of. If the Republicans want the senate they should probably appeal more to the same issues of the Democrats.
2)Republicans should move towards the middle. They should try to gain the votes of those who are neither Democratic, nor Republican, they need the independent votes. And as an outcome of that more bills could be passed because democrats and republicans agree on similar ideas.
3)If the Republicans control the senate, I think less will get done in government, but that depends on the approach. If the Republicans did move to the middle then we would see a lot more bills passed and a lot more getting done in general. But if they when and stay with their usual issues that democrats would not usually address conflict would take over government and nothing would get done.
(1B) I do not think Democrats will maintain their control in the senate because they have done nothing in the Senate so far and President Obama is extremely unpopular to the American people at the moment which hurts their chances. Republicans would have to sweep the votes and get at least 6 seats to have the majority but 8 seats or more would give the Republicans an even bigger majority. Republicans should try to move towards the middle and appeal to independent voter; this would show that they want to do what the people want by showing compromise with Democrats. On the other hand Democrats might say they are trying to leave their ideals to gain votes and split the Republican Party with the Tea Party. Kind of a double edge sword. More will get done between the senate and the house because both branches of government would be controlled by the same party but the President has veto power which would cause nothing to ultimately get done in the end.
1. I do not think the democrats will maintain control of the senate. The reason being is because there are multiple set backs that have occurred within their control. An example, there are usually 2 members selected from six-member commission, Obama has yet to select a single one when the terms are five of six. This shows weakness and a loss of focus.
2.A move to the middle would give the Republicans a fair vote between the democrats and Republican voters, yet I do also believe that nationalizing like Reid's ideas will give a more broad source of publicity for the third party and gain the Republicans votes from any supporters of that party.
3. Implications include the battle of controlling what laws get passed and decision making. Because there is diversity within the office there will be more reason for less cooperation if Republicans take over the Senate. There will most likely be fewer policies passed because of the HOR being majority Republican no policies will equally be agreed on.
1. I think that the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate this fall despite the animosity towards our current Democratic president because the Democrats are appealing more to the people like students, women, seniors, and the middle class, according to the article.
2. The Republicans should make a move to the middle and not focus on damaging Harry Reid's image because in the Politico article, Reid mentioned himself that even he doesn't see the point in attacking himself because most Republicans don't even know who he is. It doesn't make sense for the Republicans to be focusing on Reid when they could make a move to the middle and try to gain the votes of those who have not chosen to identify with a certain political party. It would also show that even though they have labeled themselves as a Republican, they can still see both sides of the issue and that fact alone will guarantee them a couple of votes outside of the Republican party.
3. I think that there are two scenarios that will happen if the Republicans win back the control of the Senate. One scenario is that more policies will be passed since a new party is running the Senate because the Democrats, at the moment, have not been successful in passing policies. Maybe the Republican party will start to change things if they gain back control and actually get work done. The other scenario is that Republicans gaining control will increase the hostility between the two parties thus the number of policies passed will be reduced. When both parties can't seem to come to terms with each other's perspectives and they are both not willing to compromise, then no work will be done. I am not quite sure which scenario will take place if the Republicans will gain control of the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections, but one of these two scenarios will happen.
1. I think the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate because in the past two elections, 2008 and 2012, more Democrats have showed up at he polls. I think the Democratic voter turn out will continue and people will start to support and respect the Democratic Party as Obama cracks down on ISIS and starts to portray America as strong force and prepared to attack if terrorism comes our way. I think the Democratic party will continue to use technology to get young voters to the polls to vote for Democratic senators. There are six seats up for grabs, battleground states being Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Colorado. West Virgina, Montana, and South Dakota are already predicted to vote Republican.
2. The Republicans should move more to the middle rather than focus on Harry Reid. Attacking an individual does little to promote policy and having the Republicans move to the center would change the party image in a positive way. Republicans would no longer be looked at as the outdated party that only wealthy people support, but a party that is more mainstream and willing to compromise with people's values of today.
3. If Republicans keep the House and win the Senate it would create fewer productivity and cooperation between the branches of government. Nothing would pass because the branches would be split as the president is a Democrat but the Legislative branch would become Republican. The Legislature would draft a conservative bill, Obama would veto, and then it would go back to the states who are unlikely to agree to get the 3/4 majority to pass the bill.
1. I do not believe that the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate this fall because the Senate has a very low approval rate and I feel that enough doesn't get passed that even democrats are tired of it. The most important seats are in Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alaska, New Hampshire and Colorado. To take control of the Senate republicans need to win a total of 6 seats.
2. I believe Republicans should play on more of a move to the middle, and this is because the majority of voters are independent, and capturing these votes is the key to beating the democrats. They can also win over more people long term rather then the short term idea of fire Harry Reid.
3. I believe that if the Republicans take the Senate, it can lead to a lot of tension between the president and the legislative. I do believe that more will get done because bills will actually be getting passed and the president would take to much heat and damage his party if he vetoed everything that went through. And at this point anything getting passed is more cooperation.
1. I think the Democrats will loose the Senate. I think this because our government has gone nowhere with certain issues. It's sort of a loose loose situation for the democrats right now because if they do agree on a law, it doesn't always go through the House and it just ends up staying in Congress or if they disagree with a new law or something their party says then they are looked upon as a hypocrite and going against their party. The leader Harry Reid is also creating a big hole for the democrats and that people who have fallen into his trap are stuck. The Democrats rule the Senate right now and they have shown to the people that with them in office, nothing gets done. The people want something done.
2. I believe that the Republicans need to make themselves more clear. In the Washington post, they said that the Republican have a hard time reaching out to the younger generations because they aren't speaking clearly. Its like teaching your Grandma how to use the iPhone 6. The Republicans are still catching up the new generation of technology. Moving towards the middle is risky because there is always the possibility that the Republicans can loose the hard core Republicans. The older generation who have been Republicans since day one. It could also back fire if they use Harry Reid's policies. The Republicans needs to take the approach of what will help them in the long run.
3. I believe that the political landscape will change if the Republicans rule the Senate. Now the Republicans rule all of Congress. There is more likely things to be done with the Congress being all Republicans. Even though the President is Democrat and he has the power to veto, there is that chance that Congress can still over ride his veto and a law can get passed. There is also a chance that the limited Democrats in Congress can lean towards the policies that the Republicans come up with.
1. A few months ago a lot of people would have predicted republicans would take back the senate but now democrats have built a strong campaign. Mid term elections are decided by local or state issues not so much national trends. The republicans need 6 seats to win.
2. It is half and half between what strategy republicans can take. It would be good to focus on the unsuccessful policies which would capture the attention of the people and have them know somebody is finally getting to a resolution but it is also as if republicans are picking up the slack of democrats. Forming their own policies would be best so moving towards the middle.
3. Some political implications will definitely include the way the government system is run. Republicans are more conservative politically so their perspective will be focused on a sharper governemnt. More policies will get passed if republicans create a tight control over the political agenda which could cooperate with democratic ideals creating cooperation.
To be honest, I'm not sure which way the Senate is going to go this fall. That's because the Democrats have raised a lot more money than the Republicans and are doing a great job while doing what they can but the Republicans are slowly gaining ground and in many's eyes the favorites. Most people think that the Democrats won't maintain control of the Senate this fall too. The Republicans need to net 6 seats. It seems as if many GOP candidates are moving to the middle which is good because it might show the American people their decency how they don't need to always uppercut the opposition to win votes. A move to the middle would move the Republican's main topics on their own subjects instead of digressing from it and talking about Democrats.I like the point at the end of the WP article where it said why focus on Obama when in a couple of years he's not even going to be President anymore. This could apply to any Democrat because in a matter of time everyone will be forgotten and it's useless to talk about them. Instead it would be better if they were to focus more on their on ideology and policies. If the Republicans were to win the Senate, I believe that that would be a good thing since as we know, not much has been getting done lately. If both the House and the Senate are too be in control by the Republicans then the President might be pressured to take in some Republican ideas and be willing to compromise since he doesn't want to look like the bad person. If he were to veto everything then that would be a bad look for not only himself but for all Democrats. From 2008-2010 all 3 parts were Democratic and a lot got done because they obviously agreed with each other. The next best possible scenario with influence from both parties and bipartisan work would be having a certain President with opposite party House and Senate. Actually, this might be the most ideal scenario. This is why I feel as if there would be more cooperation between the branches of government and that more policies would be passed if the Republicans took control of both the Senate and the House which potentially could happen.
^ 1B
1.) In my opinion, I do not think that the Democrats will maintain control of Senate because instead of being concerned about issues that need to be addressed, they are more concerned about winning and putting foth bills that "have little chance of passing." I feel like the Democrats are too focused on winning and are not really taking the time to listen to the public about what they think needs to be fixed. Campaigning and promoting yourself is good, but the candidates and the political parties should not forget why they are doing it or not forget about the purpose of them running for office. I think the Democrats have been sidetracked and have forgotten the real reason or importance of why they are doing this, which is why they are so so concerned with winning. Along with that, President Obama is an unpopular president right now, so I think that will also be a component as to why the Democrats will not maintain control of the Senate. Everything that Obama promised concerning health care and financial services has hopelessly failed, which has angered many Americans because they were promised new and efficient policies, yet Obama never delivered them. In order for the Republicans to take control of the Senate, they need to win the majority of the seats from the Democrats, so as stated in the article, they need to win six seats to gain back control.
2.)Based on the article, I think that Republicans should take a move to the middle so that they can try and sway and win some of the Independents back, but also to gain the majority of the seats in Senate. IF they continue to focus on Harry Reid and the unsuccessful Democratic policies, they are not really implementing anything or getting work done; they will be too focused on attacking on Harry Reid and the Democratic Party as people, and all of the things that they've done wrong, instead of focusing on the real issue at hand. A move to the middle will give them a better chance of winning back some of the seats in Senate and it will also enable them to fully implement their new ideas and policies before people who are undecided or neutral, like the Independents.
3.)I believe that if Republicans win back the Senate, the Democrats and the Republicans will be forced to be cooperative with one another becuase they are both in House of Representatives and the Senate. One party can not dominantly control our government or make all the decisions based on their partie's ideals or policies. Republicans maintaining control of the Senate will enable the Democrats to actually listen to them and their own policies, and work to compromise with one another. I feel like because President Obama is s Democrat, which means he has the executive power, he was able to vote for policies that were in favor of Democratic policies. Also, the Democrats have control of Senate, so since they have the majority, they have the power to implement Democratic polices in our government without consultation from the Republicans. I feel like because our government has been mostly controlled by Democrats since President Obama was elected president, the Republicans have not had a fair chance to actually implement their own ideas and policies and what they think will be beneficial to the public. So, I believe that if the Republican does take back control, it will allow both the Democrats and the Republicans to cooperatively work together and compromise with one another.
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