2010 Mid-term elections Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

2010 Mid- elections - Term Paper Example In this structural context, mid-term elections can also change the dynamics of Congressional support enjoyed by a President for his or her legislative agenda. In 2010, the mid-term elections were a referendum on President Obama’s policies during the first two years of his administration. Standing for re-election on the President’s response to the economic problems of 2008-9, including the â€Å"Wall St. Bailout,† the economic stimulus package, health care reform, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives nationally and saw their majority in the Senate eroded by Republican gains. No third-party candidates made an impact in the 2010 mid-term elections; however the election did feature the participation of the â€Å"Tea Party† as symbolic of voter frustration over taxation and corruption in Washington. To summarize the electoral trends in the 2010 mid-term elections, the election can be generalized as representing popular opposition to President Obama’s management of the White House both from the Left and Right. On the Left, generally representing the socially progressive, activist wing of the Democratic party, third-party leaning voters, and independents who organized and voted for Obama in 2008, there was a general sense of disappointment in the first two years of the administration. Many from Obama’s own party developed doubts about his leadership. Many of the objections were related to the policies of Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s Chief of Staff, who largely governed in a manner consistent with the Clinton administration, but which illustrated Emanuel’s own close contacts with the banking sector. Popular association of the Obama administration favoring banking interests over â€Å"real† or â€Å"common† people was established in the Wall St. B ailout response, which essentially gave trillions of dollars from the public treasury to the richest