| Defeat for Obama 03/11/2010 |
| (2010-11-03) |
| Last updated: 2010-11-04 17:56 EET |
 While many saw them as a referendum on the policies of American President Barack Obama, the congressional mid-term elections on Tuesday confirmed the grim predictions looming over the Democrats.
For the first time since 2006, the opposition Republicans have reclaimed the House of Representatives, while the Democrats will still have majority in the Senate, although their control will be weaker.
The harsh defeat of the Democrats, which has also been reflected in the loss of governor seats, is primarily due to the difficult economic situation and an unemployment rate of almost 10%.
Doina Saiciuc, Radio Romania’s correspondent to Washington, explains: “Economic priorities have overshadowed everything else in the eyes of the voters, who let their worries prevail and gave a strong support to Republican candidates in their race for Congress and governors’ seats. One voter publicly stated his vote was an expression of his opposition towards president Obama. Republicans claimed an important victory in the House of Representatives. Commentators say this is a huge victory, because it handed Republicans over 52 seats, thus exceeding the 1994 achievement. The future speaker of the House of Representatives will be the Republican congressman John Boehner of Ohio, who will take over at the 112th US congress in January 2011. “
Aware that his reformist plans might shatter against the hostility of the House, president Obama was quick to contact the forthcoming Republican leader in an attempt to reach a compromise with the right-wing.
According to pundits, Republicans, who have constantly opposed the president’s set of reforms over the last two years, will pressure president Obama to discard his reforms regarding the energy sector, climate change, immigration and education.
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2025-04-03
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