One of the biggest obstacles either candidate faces is partisan gridlock in Congress. It appears unlikely either party will have enough votes to have its own way without bringing over members from across the aisle.
Early in his administration, President Obama reached out to Republicans but was rebuffed. Since then, he has abandoned the effort, and the partisan divide has hardened. That has hampered not only the economy, but the entire country. We remain a nation of red states and blue states.
Romney succeeded as governor in Massachusetts where he faced Democratic majorities in the legislature. If elected, he would have an opportunity to renew the effort. He would begin with an advantage in the House, where a Republican majority is likely to remain after the election. The challenge will be in the Senate, where it takes a super-majority to pass anything of substance.
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Los Angeles Daily News:
The election is likely to be very close, the Electoral College tally to be tipped one way or another by the results in just a few states. Alas, California again will not be among the difference-makers._____
The mere fact that Obama finds himself in a neck-and- neck race speaks to the disappointment he has inspired in many one-time believers. Even if he ekes out a victory, the public-opinion polls suggest he will be the first president in 180 years to be elected to a second term with a lower percentage of the popular vote than he received the first time around.
That Democrats and Republicans are so evenly and stubbornly split also speaks to the political state of a nation beset by corrosive partisanship. An unhealthy number of supporters of the Democratic ticket, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, and the Republican standard bearers, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan, cannot imagine what
the other side is thinking.
It is precisely this kind of partisan divide that Obama promised to end. He was going to make history not only as the United States' first black president but as its healer, vowing to lead the nation into a new era of cooperation. But that promise to blend blue America and red America into purple America is an example of Obama's failure of leadership.
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