The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib points out that a split government in which the GOP controls Congress while the President controls the White House could actually benefit Obama’s legacy and lay some ground for the Democrat nominee in 2016.
Seib’s historical analysis has shown that in congressional sessions where power is being shared, both sides are more willing to compromise and get something done versus the deadlock we’ve seen during a session in which each house is control by the opposite party.
He explains, “When power is evenly split in Washington, both parties have to temper their policies. They can worry less about fully satisfying their ideological bases. When they have to compromise, it’s easier to say, ‘Hey, we had no choice. We have to put up with the other side.'”
Once the midterm election results are finalized — whether on Nov. 5th or in December (should Louisiana go to a run-off) — the 2016 election cycle will begin in which President Obama will be in great need to resuscitate his image both for his long term presidential legacy and to rehabilitate the Democrat brand for his party’s nominee. Getting things done via compromise with a GOP Congress, as Clinton did in the 90s, would only benefit him.
