Friday, November 7, 2014

Voters send contradictory messages to lawmakers


     By now, even casual news consumers have heard that this week’s midterm elections produced a Republican tsunami of victories in U.S. Senate, House and gubernatorial campaigns. The meaning of those wins, however, is anything but clear.

     Midterm voters did something very different than they said they wanted. Voters questioned at the polls on Tuesday complained vociferously about gridlock in Congress, about partisan battles that prevented legislative action, and about mean, strident political bickering. Then they re-elected Scott Walker in Wisconsin, a governor so controversial he had to face a recall launched weeks after he began his first term. They awarded historic majorities to the party that defiantly shut down the federal government, threatened the credit rating of the United States, and led the least productive Congress in history.

     In Kentucky, Sen. Mitch McConnell won re-election despite his role in a 2008 meeting that laid out the strategy of denying a single win of any kind to President Obama, setting up six years of gridlock. In California, a congressman rated as one of the most bipartisan, who was endorsed by both the Sierra Club and the National Chamber of Commerce, is locked in a still-unresolved vote count with a challenger who cast the only opposition vote in over 100 compromises worked out by his city council colleagues. In Massachusetts, Seth Moulton won a House seat while not mentioning his Marine Corps bravery medals.

     The most puzzling thing about Tuesday’s results is the dichotomy between the Republican candidate sweep and passage of progressive ballot measures. Minimum-wage increases, blocked by Republicans in Congress, were approved by double-digit margins in the deeply red states of Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Recreational marijuana was legalized in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. Paid sick leave was mandated in three cities. The state of Washington voted for firearm purchase background checks.

     Governors in Connecticut and Colorado targeted by the National Rifle Association because of their approval of minimal gun regulations won re-election. Despite massive spending from Chevron, the citizens of Richmond, Calif., elected a mayor who opposed what he saw as insufficient government regulation.

     What does it all mean? Different things in different places and consequences that will only become clear in the coming months—just like in every other election.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.