Election 2006: Democrats pass their midterms

"Excited," a Democrat described as his reaction. "Compromise," a Republican foresaw. "Iraq" was the dominant issue, one said. "Bush," said another. The outcome was "a reality check," described a third. When polls closed Tuesday, giving Democrats control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years, along with a majority in the Senate, one thing was certain - the country had demanded change.

"My sense is that this [election] is an anti-Republican victory and not a pro-Democrat victory," said Jennifer A. Steen, a professor in the political science department. Even still, it was a victory for Democrats nonetheless. As votes were tallied Tuesday night, it quickly became apparent that the party was guaranteed to recapture the House and seemed poised to take the Senate as well.

By last night, though 10 House races remained contested, the party of Jackson had taken 29 House seats and six seats in the Senate - enough to take control of both houses for the first time since 1994. This change did not stop with Congress, as six Republican governors will be succeeded by Democrats - including Deval Patrick's decisive victory over Kerry Healey in Massachusetts to succeed Gov. Mitt Romney.

"Clearly, a large number of Americans are upset about the situation in Iraq, and there are large numbers of voters who were put off by the scandals and corruption that have been linked - not exclusively - but mostly with Republicans," said Steen. Indeed, Iraq and the president's war policy seemed to be the dominant issue on many voters' minds in races typically characterized by local issues.

"Iraq played a huge part," said Patrick Healey, president of the College Democrats and A&S '07, who described himself as "pleased" with the outcome. He pointed to the Rhode Island Senate race in which incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee lost, despite his popularity among his constituents and his penchant for going across party lines to work with Democrats.

Though Dale Herbeck, the chairperson of the communications department, viewed the election as a clear "referendum" for change on the president's war policy in Iraq, among the bigger questions was how Democrats and Republicans - long cast as adversaries - would be able to work together, particularly since many of the Democrats occupying the new seats are more moderate and even conservative candidates.

"We are now in this shared power situation where the Democrats will be in solid control of the House and it looks like they will be in control of the Senate with the slimmest of margins - and you have this Republican president," he said. "They're going to have to compromise because the Democrats aren't a monolithic power. If you have five votes in the Senate either way, [the Democrats are] not always going to be able to bring all [their] liberal and conservative members together."

Steen agreed. "I can't wait to see how the Democrats and President George W. Bush get along."

Amanda Short, president of the College Republicans and CSOM '07, said that the Republicans would have to focus on the more moderate parts of their agenda to court some of the more moderate Democratic newcomers. "We're going to have to take a step back and not be forcing our most extreme conservative ideas because they're not going to pass."

For Jonathan Laurence, a professor in the political science department, the divided government would provide greater "credibility" for U.S. policies abroad and greater balance at home. "It is a welcome reality check. It could be a resurgence of an actual legislative branch - a branch which in the last five years has been a blank check for the president."

Historically, it is generally rare for national issues to play such a prominent role in congressional races. It is even rarer for foreign policy issues to be such a deciding factor. Herbeck described the Iraq issue as "transcendent" in this sense. Often, if a national issue does play a prominent role in an election, it involves the economy. But this year, the war "swamped everything else," he said.

For Laurence, the diversity in this year's elections is just as important as the new balance of power. He cited Deval Patrick's victory and candidates such as Herald Ford as examples of this. "We as a nation have an example to set to other democracies around the world that there is a way to be inclusive and that the political system works." He believed that this election would "recast" the image of the United States as a place where plurality and tolerance are accepted. To the world, he said, "This shows that we are not just about secret prisons, torture, or war. There is a humane side to U.S. politics."