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Obama Fine-Tuned 2008's Winning Formula - Wall Street Journal

Posted: 07 Nov 2012 09:07 AM PST

BY NEIL KING JR., CAROL E. LEE AND COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON

President Barack Obama secured a second term Tuesday by assembling a set of discrete voting blocs into an electoral majority, nurturing support among Hispanics and African Americans, women and young people, while holding his own among working-class voters in the pivotal state of Ohio.

From the outset, the Obama team knew it couldn't count on the euphoric wave that propelled the president to victory four years earlier. Winning in 2012 would depend, as his top aides put it, on a state-by-state "blocking and tackling" effort to preserve what they could of his 2008 coalition.

With the economy still feeble and ...

Republicans Retain House by Shoring Up Incumbents - New York Times

Posted: 07 Nov 2012 08:22 AM PST

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Published: November 7, 2012

Deep disapproval of Congress and dissatisfaction with partisan division appeared no match for gerrymandering and incumbency on Tuesday, as Republicans retained a firm hold on the House of Representatives, assuring the continuation of divided government for at least another two years.

Democrats made modest gains in the House, and managed to run out of town Tea Party-backed Republican freshmen, like Representative Allen West, who appeared to have lost by roughly 2,500 votes in Florida Tuesday night, though he has yet to concede, and Representative Nan Hayworth of New York, who found her conservative leanings a liability in a presidential year.

Democrats also cleaned up in Illinois, one of the few states where Democrats had an upper hand in redistricting, turning away three Republican freshmen and sending Representative Judy Biggert, a long-serving Republican member from the Chicago suburbs, back home. California and New Hampshire also provided some Democratic gains.

The Democrats' most impressive saves were in Utah, where Representative Jim Matheson managed to beat back a well-financed and high profile challenger in Mia Love by fewer than 3,000 votes, remaining that state delegation's only Democrat, and in Georgia, where Representative John Barrow, the last white Democrat in the Deep South, prevailed.

But in the first Congressional election since decennial redistricting, Republicans, who controlled the process in scores of states, used that advantage, matched with an aggressive candidate recruitment plan that eluded Senate Republicans, to hold off the big gains that Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, suggested were coming.

For the many gains made by Democrats — who appeared Wednesday morning to have a six-seat gain — Republicans were able to add to their own column.

In North Carolina, where their redistricting efforts targeted vulnerable Democrats more than just about anywhere else, Republicans won a seat left open by the retirement of one prominent Blue Dog, Representative Brad Miller, as former federal prosecutor George Holding, easily defeated his Democratic opponent. Another Democratic incumbent, Representative Larry Kissell, long used to fending off Republicans, lost to Richard Hudson, a former Republican staffer.

In Kentucky, Republicans got their wish and finally tossed Representative Ben Chandler, one of the last remaining Blue Dogs, from his seat. Andy Barr, who lost to Mr. Chandler by 647 votes in 2010, finally took out the incumbent, who had served since 2004.

While Tea Party-backed incumbents lost in several districts, the two members with the loudest voices in Congress remain. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota squeaked by in her matchup, and Representative Steve King of Iowa handily beat back Christie Vilsack, the wife of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor.

Ticket splitting helped the party, too. Representative Tom Latham, Republican of Iowa defeated Representative Leonard Boswell, a Democrat, in the battle between the two long-serving incumbents, even though President Obama won the state. In Colorado, where Mr. Obama also prevailed, so did a Republican incumbent, Mike Coffman, who is among the more conservative members.

"Just as in 2010," said Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, who leads the National Republican Campaign Committee, "our House Republican candidates listened to the American people and rejected the Democrats' tax-and-spend agenda that threatens the American dream."

Democrats began the year with deep pockets and a plan to focus on scores of Republican freshmen, particularly those with a Tea Party imprimatur, in an effort to retake the House after losing it in 2010.

Retirements by a large number of Democratic members, and a message on Medicare that more or less fizzled, were additional impediments. Blue Dog Democrats, a group of moderates whose numbers have been dwindling, were particularly endangered as they struggled to defend districts they had long held.

Many Democrats started the cycle off in strong position, particularly after high-profile fights in Congress over issues like the payroll tax extension and student loan rates. But the environment changed significantly as time went on, with voters divided over the disparate policy prescriptions offered by the two parties on the economy, entitlements and taxes.

As the leaves began to change and the temperatures dropped, what once seemed like a Democratic surge evaporated. There appeared to be no single issue that Democrats could turn to their advantage, like the health care debate that so dominated the 2010 Congressional elections and propelled Republicans back into the majority. President Obama's coattails had little effect in many states he easily won.

The fight over the Medicare program, which Democrats thought would help them pick up seats from west to east, more or less fizzled. Indeed Representative Kathleen C. Hochul, who was elected last year in an upset victory in a special election, conceded to Republican challenger Chris Collins Tuesday.

Democrats had a far better day over all in the Senate, maintaining their control there and ensuring that the two chambers would continue their contentious relationship through 2014.

Most immediately, with no undisputed mandate on either side of the aisle to manage fiscal policy, Congress will move to confront the so-called fiscal cliff, and simultaneous expiration of myriad tax provisions and drastic budget cuts.

It remains to be seen whether the tone and content of the bruising fight over the debt ceiling and other fiscal matters in the 112th Congress will continue into the next session, or if both parties will conclude that the only mandate lawmakers have is to finally work together and bridge the gap on those difficult issues.

"For two years, our majority in the House has been the primary line of defense for the American people against a government that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much when left unchecked," House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Tuesday. "In the face of a staggering national debt that threatens our children's future, our majority passed a budget that begins to solve the problem."

Mr. Boehner, who has called a midafternoon news conference on Capitol Hill to discuss the so-called January fiscal cliff, when billions of dollars in tax increases and automatic spending cuts go into effect, adding, "With this vote, the American people have also made clear that there is no mandate for raising tax rates."

The poor showing is likely to result in new questions about whether Ms. Pelosi will remain her party's leader in the House.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Rabu, 7 November 2012