Republican Victory...Republican Governance

Ok...the GOP won BIG TIME in the 2014 mid-terms! Fifty-two seats on election night alone, Louisiana hangs in the balance until December, and Landrieu will lose, Alaska looks like a another lock for the GOP as votes are still being counted, and a small possibility in Virginia that a recount could unseat incumbent Democrat, Mark Warner.

This makes their control of the Senate reach upwards of 55 seats. Then there is possibility of snagging up two wayward members of the political herd--Senator Angus King (I-ME) and centrist Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)--to caucus with the GOP. Needless to say, this would put them in super majority territory. But the question that remains is what will the Republicans do with all of this new-found power and authority? My first reaction, which is based on their past history, is snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

However despite my personal reservations about future GOP performance, the Republicans did do a few things right that they deserve credit for. During the Senate and House campaigns the GOP successfully tapped the anti-Obama sentiment that permeates the country. Accordingly their efforts to nationalize the election as a referendum on the President and thus Democrats, was very fortuitous.

Also there was the gift that keeps on giving; the Democrat candidates proclivity to the Todd Aiken disease. That is the inevitability of a candidate to say something stupid that is used against them in a campaign ad. Conversely, the Republicans seemed to have learned from their past mistakes of moving gaffe-prone candidates into the limelight.

From Politico,

In an effort to avoid any Todd Aiken-like gaffes, the National Republican Senatorial Committee put on a media-training bootcamp for candidates ahead of the midterms. NRSC trackers met the candidates at the airport, watching them as "soon as they poked their heads through the security doors." Then, it was two full days of training.

As I have already eluded to, my expectations as a member of the Right are very low in way of GOP governance. Their past actions--not including excellent parliamentarian maneuvering--was less than lackluster. Agenda speaking they have not provided much to be enthusiastic over other than an expectable mid-term drubbing of Democrats.