2014 Elections

I won't pretend I know the cause of everything which has and is happening in the elections, but one particular bit of information was very telling: that this electorate is much older than in the 2012 election where Pres. Obama was re-elected with over 50% support. Also, it was not as young. This may sound redundant, but it isn't. More older voters turned out, making it older AND many fewer younger voters turned out, making it older. This is particularly surprising since the Democrats knew the turnout of young voters was crucial. And, how the Republicans got the older voters to turn out against Pres. Obama has to be studied.

A lot of discussion among Democrats recently has been about the odd fact that Republican voters often vote against their own natural interests. In this election it's strange to see the older voters supporting Republicans who have discussed eliminating Medicare and Social Security. For those voters to have supported Republicans despite those policy positions is stunning. On the flip side is the question of why younger voters didn't vote, despite Democrat efforts to get them to the polling places.

The consequences of Republicans taking control of the Senate will obviously be significant and obviously an increase in the power of Republicans to oppose the president. If voters were angry about the inability of Democrats & Republicans to work together to get things done they didn't solve that by splitting power this way. Is it possible (again) they're voting against their own interests? The electorate isn't always easy to understand.

For those who think each election of this kind is the beginning of a huge trend I would remind them there were more Democratic incumbents up for reelection this time. In two years that will reverse and there will be even more Republican incumbents up for reelection.