The results of Tuesday's midterm elections in the US came as no surprise to anyone following the run-up to the vote. In reaction to the country's economic straits, American voters voted with the proverbial pocket book and turned against the party in power, putting Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives and leaving the Democrats' margin in the Senate a very slim one. The US economy has been a determining factor numerous times before, with the rest of the world looking on as Americans remove parties and presidents that seem perfectly rational and healthy to the rest of the world. Most recently, it was the election of Bill Clinton over George H.W. Bush in 1992 that proved the point. Having engineered an impressive international coalition to support military actions against Iraq in the wake of its invasion of Iraq, Bush was removed from office as the deregulation of the Reagan years began to cut into the economy with the president breaking his “no new taxes” pledge. Just two years ago, Obama swept into office on idealistic pledges and equally idealistic hopes in the hearts of the electorate. Like the first George Bush, Obama had a tough act to follow. The US economy was already showing signs of being in shambles, and there were two treacherous wars still being waged. Despite the high-flying optimism that ushered in the new president, more sober observers raised countless questions about the ultimate efficacy of government to reverse the economy. It is unclear what more Obama could have done to reverse his nation's economic slide. He has not fixed the economy and Americans are walking around with fewer jobs, fewer dollars in their pockets and a host of frustrated ambition due to the faltering economy. Voting in the Republicans may be just as optimistic as voting in Obama two years ago. The party has offered very little on how to reverse the US economy, and has spent the last two years more interested in attacking Obama than offering solutions. Still, when money is involved, especially one's personal finances, the vote always goes against the incumbent. Whether that will fix the US economy and boost that of the rest of the world is still to be seen. It is far more the legacy of Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II than that of two years of Obama's presidency that created the mess. __
