by “It’s the Economy, Stupid” helped usher in the Clinton era, as, despite George H. W. Bush’s foreign policy successes, Bill Clinton swept into power, partly by underscoring the negative economic impact of the recent recession.It seems that the more things change, the more they actually stay the same. In Tuesday’s U.S. elections, the voters showed once again that they care less about the actual party in power and more about changing any leadership who appears not to be successfully restoring financial equanimity to the American people.President Obama wasn’t actually running in these mid-term elections, but the resounding victory of the Republican party in the House, several Senate, and many governorship elections, was certainly intended as a statement to the president. With most races already called, the GOP has already gained at least 59 House seats, giving them a clear majority and the biggest party turnover in more than 70 years, as well as at least six Senate seats and ten governorships. Indeed, exit polls and pre-election surveys indicated that four in ten votes considered themselves in an inferior financial state than two years ago, when Obama came to power, and more than one in three identified their votes as an expression of opposition to the president. Poll results like these will no doubt bolster the intentions of the Republicans to use the election results as a mandate to initiate a new conservative approach to the economy.
