Dear President Barack Obama,
I hope this week is going better than the past two weeks. Since the 2014 elections did not go the way you hoped, I can imagine the week of Nov. 4 was a pretty tough week for the White House. To most, it seemed like the nation shouted out that it was tired of failed policies and the empty promises of the current administration, or maybe it was just tired of nothing getting done in Washington in general.
As I am sure that you know, Republicans have taken the majority in the Senate, and they have maintained the majority in the House. Next year, the Senate will be composed of at least 53 Republicans, with the potential for it to grow to 54 Republicans pending the runoff election in Louisiana. While this may seem insurmountable, let me remind you about what is going on the House of Representatives. With a majority of 249, Republicans would have to lose 32 seats in 2016 for Democrats to take over the House once again.
Unfortunately, Obama, the situation does not look much better at the state level either, as Republican governors around the nation seemed to have the nation tied up. In 2014, Republicans will be at the helm of 29 of the 50 states in the union. In fact, even your home state of Illinois, which is one of the bluest states in the union, elected a Republican governor. In my home state, even the “hated” Gov. Scott Walker got reelected. (Maybe this was due the huge budget surplus that he created, the tuition freeze that he implemented or the low unemployment rate in Wisconsin).
In addition to this, many states seemed to have an expansion of representation for Republicans in their state legislatures as well. Here in Wisconsin, the State Assembly Republicans grew from 60 representatives to 63 Republicans. Even though Democrats throughout the state tried to demonize state Republicans, especially Walker, voters seemed to think differently.
Also, I want to point out another startling statistic for you. It seems like you are beginning to lose the youth vote, at least in Wisconsin. A recent report sent out by CNN shows that throughout Wisconsin, 48 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 voted for Walker in the past election. Even though Mary Burke did win in this age range with 49 percent of the vote, Republicans, who have historically done poorly with this demographic, seemed to do pretty well.
In addition to this, I urge you to read an article that was recently published Polo Rocha in The Badger Herald. According to this article, “the most Democratic campus in Wisconsin” actually began to swing Republican, with 49 percent of one ward in the Southeast neighborhood voting for Walker. However, here is an interesting statistic that Rocha did not mention in his article. Across campus wards, Republicans gained 4.7 percentage points on average since 2012. (I calculated this using information from the Dane County Clerks Office. If you do not believe me, I urge you to do the same.) Even though this might not seem like a lot, if this trend continues, Republicans will begin to win some wards on “the most liberal campus in Wisconsin.” I do not know if this trend was replicated on college campuses throughout the nation, but at least in Wisconsin, you can count on a strong Republican youth vote in the future.
Well, Obama, I have news for you. Your term as president is not over, and we are all looking to you for leadership. In my personal opinion, I think this will be the defining moment in your presidency. Will you choose to work together with the strong Republican majority and try to make a difference, or will you go like many before you and just sit on a stagnant presidency riddled with bipartisan gridlock? From what I have heard so far, the results do not seem to be promising. It would have been great if you would have given us a message of bipartisanship Nov. 5. Instead, you have promised to act alone to fix the problems of this nation on topics ranging from immigration to climate change.
Well, I have news for you. You cannot do it alone, and Republicans are not the evil, greedy people that you think they are. Democrat or Republican, we all have the same goal even if we go about it different ways. We all believe in maintaining a free and prosperous America, and now more than ever we must work together to achieve this.
Obama, the American people have spoken and the ball is in your court. What you do with it will define your presidency. I hope that you make the right decision for all of our sakes.
Sincerely,
A Concerned American Citizen
Zachary Walters ([email protected]) is the communications director of the College Republicans.
