Riding a wave of discontent from the Democrats, the Republicans picked up 7 new seats in the Senate and dozens of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2014 midterm elections.
The Republicans won back Congress with an effectively executed plan. Their winning it back is a result of making their candidates look more appealing, criticizing President Obama, and exploiting the Democrats’ fears and weaknesses.
The Republicans made their candidates more appealing by giving less exposure to far-right members. Throughout President Obama’s first term, the Republican Party was plagued with hardline right wing extremists who did little to attract the average voter. Such extremists include former Congressman Todd Akin, who suggested in an interview that there is such a thing as “legitimate rape” and that women should not get an abortion even if they became impregnated from rape. The “old school” Republicans realized how much the extremists and the Tea Party were dragging the party down. So, over the span of two years, they became less conservative and distanced themselves from the likes of the Tea Party. Their results improved substantially from the last election, because the average voter was attracted to the more moderate messages that Republican candidates conveyed this time around.
Republicans also put a lot of focus on President Obama. They concentrated a lot of their energy criticizing President Obama. They labeled him as partisan and weak, and they portrayed him as a maker of bad policies, alluding to his troubled healthcare rollout and his stance on immigration. And it worked; this message really spoke to many voters, who elected the Republicans over the Democrats.
Another strategy the Republicans utilized involved effectively exploiting the Democrats’ weaknesses. Prior to Election Day, there were numerous negative ads run by Democratic candidates. Many of them not only criticized Republicans, but President Obama as well.
Democratic candidate Alison Grimes even opened a commercial by shooting a rifle and saying, “I am not President Obama.” Why did so many Democrats criticize the president? Many Americans do not see President Obama as a good president. Republicans recognized this and repeatedly made the case that their Democratic opponents are just as bad. As a result of their success, Obama’s approval rating has been hovering at an all-time low of 40 percent. Many Democratic candidates attempted to distance themselves from President Obama in an effort to win the voters’ favor. This made the Democrats appear weak, divided, and frantic.
But what does all of this mean for America? Ryhan Moghe ’18 states, “True sympathy is felt for Obama and the Democrats. At this point, I fear Republicans will more easily block any ideas the Democrats have.”
From a Republican point of view, however, Dylan Camp ‘17 states, “The Democrats made the country worse. Now that the Republicans have control of Congress, there will be new laws that will benefit America, because the Democrats will have to work with the Republicans.”
Will the result of this election create a more polarized atmosphere? Or will neither party have an excuse to blame the other side for the divided atmosphere anymore, which could lead to compromise? Time will only tell, but one can only hope that the gridlock in Washington will finally subside.