Analyse the Significance of recent US Midterm Elections?
Midterm elections occur midway through the president’s 4 year term of office. These mid- term elections for the whole of the House and one- third of the senate display certain characteristics of their own. Mid- Term elections are said to be the verdict on the president’s performance.
The most recent mid- term election that has occurred is the 4th of November 2014 election. The result however was not surprising as opinion polls had already predicted the defeat of the Democrats. The main issues that American citizens are most concerned about is security and the Economy, in particular, the Americans were concerned about what Obama has contributed towards these hot topics. There is evidence that the president’s party usually loses seats in both houses in mid-term elections. In the mid-term elections between 1962 and 2010, the president’s party has lost an average of 23 House seats and between two and three senate seats. The mid- term elections proved to be a test on Obamas authority this year, as the democrats defeat did give reason to his unpopularity. Many Americans may have been unhappy with the fact that both Obama and Joe Biden (vice president) are Washington insiders. They may have needed a balance (one senator, and one governor), in order to put their full trust upon Obama. There have been an incredible amount of loss of jobs and the US state security can also be questioned. As predicted, the Republicans gained back control of the U.S. Senate, netting at least seven new seats, one more than the number required to take back the majority from the Democrats for the first time in eight years. Was Obamas performance in the 2 years running up to the mid- terms, the reason why the Democrats failed to win seats? Clearly mid- term elections provide a voice to the nation, to evaluate upon whether the president has been a success or not. This may in fact provide a warning to Obama to get organised and become...