Midterm elections are over. While most may see this only as relief from the political advertising and yard signs that have plagued every commercial break and bare patch of grass across our state and nation, this really is much bigger than that.
The balance of power has shifted in Congress. Republicans now control both chambers, and once the dust settles, they’ll begin to pursue their agenda the way that Democrats did when they controlled both chambers in 2006.
The real rub for Republicans, though, is that while they may now control Congress, President Barack Obama still wields veto power. And if Republicans think they are going to come in slashing up all of the things Democrats have managed to get passed in the last few years through what has been a bitterly unproductive Congress, they have another think coming.
Having divided government (one party controlling one or both chambers of Congress and another the Presidency) is not an unusual state of affairs in modern American politics. Since 1970, in 18 of the 24 elections, the American people have elected a divided government. But history makes it clear being divided doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t find ways to bridge the gap and accomplish things together. In fact, some of the American government’s greatest modern accomplishments have been born out of a divided government.
President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil are now famous for their working together. Their relationship is an example of how to get things done while working on different sides of the aisle. What’s interesting about this is that it was rarely rainbows and butterflies. The government shut down seven times while Reagan and O’Neil were in office. Each of those times came as a result of bitter partisanship and neither side relenting before a government shutdown occurred. Reagan once called O’Neil “a round thing that gobbles up money,” while O’Neil said Reagan was “Herbert Hoover with a smile.”
I think the true takeaway from this for today’s politicians is the things Reagan and O’Neil were able to accomplish remain as their legacy, not the grinding disputes that came along the way.
An example that reflects a little more accurately today’s political landscape is the relationship between President Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich.
In the 1994 midterms, Republicans took control of the House (for the first time since 1952), electing Newt Gingrich as their speaker, and also gained control of the Senate. They controlled the whole Congress, similar to today. This era is held less as a model for bipartisanship than the Reagan-O’Neil period, but still shows monumental things can be accomplished with a little compromise.
The dueling between Clinton and the Republican Congress was bitter and divisive. It resulted in government shutdown and a real lack of faith anything significant could pass through the partisan gridlock (sound familiar?). But this time is also remembered for the passing of Welfare Reform and, most notably, the 1997 Bipartisan Budget Agreement.
After much intense negotiation between both sides, they agreed on a budget that cut spending enough to balance the budget and cut taxes. That’s quite an accomplishment.
An exhaustive list of the issues facing our country isn’t a realistic endeavor. Suffice it to say we have quite a few. President Obama and the Republican leadership in Congress should look to the past to determine how to ensure America’s future.
Mitch McConnell, the likely majority leader of the Senate, said this week, “When the American people choose divided government, I don’t think it means they don’t want us to do anything, I think it means they want us to look for areas of agreement.”
I trust this view of divided government is something both sides can see as an “area of agreement.”
From the Reagan era of divided government came Social Security reform. The Clinton era gave us a balanced budget and Welfare reform. Will there be an accomplishment by which Obama’s divided government will be defined? Considering the issues faced by our country, one can only hope.
