Now that the elections are finally over, two quotations come to mind.  One from Will Rogers who said, “I don’t belong to any organized political party.  I am a Democrat.”  The other quote is by a contemporary curmudgeon, P.J. O’Rourke:  “Republicans tell you how bad government is then get elected and prove it.”

The Democrats, as usual, self-destructed.  At the outset of President Obama’s tenure, they were all for hope and change and a great wave of optimism swept the country.  Big dreams, big programs. Health care for all leading the charge.  The Republicans reacted with “fat chance.  We’re going to do everything we can to make him a one-term president, so there!”  Then things started not going well for Obama and just wonderful for the Republicans.  A mess in launching ACA (which, of course, had nothing to do with the content of the law, but never mind.) The Middle East started going terribly bad with everybody hating us and nobody helping us no matter how much money we spent on backing their corrupt governments, and ISIS beheading Americans and then, fortunately for Republicans, just before the mid-terms Ebola erupted in Africa and a couple cases popped up in America.  Now, the Republicans, as they have done for the last six years, blamed everything on Obama and insisted relentlessly about how everything bad in America and the world today is his fault.  The Democrats, who have been singularly incompetent at countering the Republican onslaught, ran for cover and abandoned Obama (meaning abandoning everything they supposedly stood for during the last six years) and lost just about everything in these  mid-term elections. 
Now, on the other hand, the Republicans, who have spent the last six years hammering at how bad Obama, the Democrats and their policies have been will now be required to come up with some real concrete ideas (something they have sadly lacked).  Of course, many Republicans have gone back to the rallying cry of repealing Obama care ignoring the fact that this is not really such a high priority among the majority of Americans but never mind. Now, the Republicans will have to be more specific and be required to explain what’s so bad about Obamacare instead of vague charges that it is a “train wreck."  Perhaps they might offer some real alternatives.

It will be interesting to see if the Republicans, now that they control both houses of Congress will drop the policy of obstruction and really begin to participate in governing the country or if they will prove P. J. O’Rourke is absolutely right.

President Obama is now a lame duck president.  It might be more accurate to say a “dead duck” president because despite the obligatory mumblings after the elections by both Obama and new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about seeking “common ground” I wouldn’t count on it.