Mixed message

Republicans acquired more seats in the U.S. House and took control of the U.S. Senate, but failed to make any gains in Minnesota despite spending millions of dollars in an effort to topple Eighth District Rep. Rick Nolan and U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

Nolan squeaked out a win over political newcomer Stewart Mills while Franken easily defeated challenger Mike McFadden.

The Republicans’ overall strategy was to paint President Barack Obama as a failure and tie Democratic opponents to the president. They successfully tapped into voter anger, but that anger could swiftly shift if the public sees two more years of gridlock in Washington.

Although Republicans are calling this a repudiation of Obama’s presidency, it’s dangerous to make such a simplistic claim. For one, the GOP takeover of the Senate was more about math than voter anger with President Obama. Democrats were defending a long list of Senate seats that the party had won in red states back in 2008, which was the last big Democratic wave election. That made tough work for Democrats regardless of feelings towards the president. And off-year elections invariably attract a different electorate, one that’s older, whiter, and more conservative than in presidential years. In that sense, it isn’t clear that this year’s election results reflect much about the feeling of the public at large, other than typical mid-term apathy.

Although the Obama administration has made its share of mistakes, the achievements outweigh the failures. And while the president’s approval rating hovers in the low 40s, the public rates Republicans in Congress much lower still.

Closer to home, voters in Minnesota expressed general satisfaction with the DFL and its policies, which have dominated state government for the past four years. The party swept all constitutional offices, easily re-elected Franken, and successfully defended its five congressional seats. The only setback for the party was in the state House, where Republicans have retaken control.

Voters had good reason to be satisfied in Minnesota given the substantial improvement in the state’s economy, and new investments in K-12 and higher education. A more progressive tax structure, approved by the Legislature last year, has improved the state’s fiscal health at the same time. It’s tough to argue with success, and voters in Minnesota, for the most, signaled their satisfaction.

Although the economy is not as robust nationally, it, too, has shown slow, steady improvement since the dramatic downturn sparked by the 2008 financial crisis. While it hasn’t helped all Americans yet, the recovery here has been far faster than in other developed countries, such as in Europe.

Part of the credit for America’s improvement goes to Obama’s stimulus plan, economists agree. When a panel of economic experts was asked if the U.S. employment rate was lower at the end of 2010 than it would have been without the stimulus, 82 percent said yes. Only two percent said no.

The stimulus could have been even more robust, but Obama faced strong opposition from the GOP to virtually any effort to jump-start the economy. Republicans made it clear that derailing the Obama administration was their number one objective, and if that meant hurting the economy, then it was acceptable collateral damage.

With the GOP taking full control of Congress, there’s now a different political dynamic at play. It will be up to Republicans in Congress to demonstrate they can actually govern, and that means they’ll have to find a way to actually work with President Obama. It’s one thing to make no compromise when you’re in the minority. But governing always requires give and take, and that will require a far different approach for Republicans than they’ve managed in recent years. Indeed, Republicans’ resistance to compromise and their scorched-earth approach has been a key reason that this Congress was recently named the least productive in history.

Democrats also must respond to the challenge by trying to find ways to bridge their differences with Republicans, find common ground and reach sensible decisions on issues ranging from the economy to climate change.

The midterm elections are a chance to set a corrective course. If that opportunity is squandered, Republicans will face the wrath of voters just two years from now.