TYPHOID BARRY AND THE COMING REPEAL OF OBAMACARE

Americans don’t think much of either Democrats or Republicans, polls indicate. On Tuesday, they indicated they dislike Democrats more.

This came as a shock to some, because more disapproved of the GOP in polls. It shouldn’t have. Republicans score low because many conservatives view the GOP unfavorably. This is a big problem.

Few in their liberal base disapprove of Democrats. But just about everyone else does. Since only about 23 percent of Americans are liberals, Democrats have a bigger problem.

Republicans won 7 senate seats outright Tuesday, lead by four percentage points in Alaska with 100 percent of precincts reporting. After the runoff in Louisiana Dec. 6, GOP gains almost certainly will rise to 9.

Or higher. Three Democrats called to explore switching parties, said GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

He’s proud to be a Democrat, says Joe Manchin of West Virginia. But Republicans got 62 percent of the vote in the senate race, won handily in every congressional district. If  I were Joe, I’d be thinking seriously about going with the flow.

There will be more Republicans in the House than at any time since 1928. Among them will be the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress (Elise Stefanik of New York), the first black Republican woman (Mia Love of Utah) and the first openly gay Republican (Carl DeMaio of California).

Pundits expected Republicans to lose up to four governors. The GOP netted a gain of four.  The GOP will control at least 65 of 99 state legislative chambers, the most since before the Great Depression.

The "historic" GOP midterm victory doesn’t signal a Republican will be elected president in 2016. That’ll depend on what the new Congress does, especially on whether more in the various GOP factions act like grownups.

The first step toward political maturity is for Republicans of all stripes to recognize their enemy is in the White House, not the GOP caucus.

The next is to understand that as long as Barack Obama is president, there isn’t much Republicans can do to change the direction of the country. They can, and must, send to his desk bill after bill to fix the things he’s screwed up. I’ll discuss in subsequent columns what I think should be in those bills. But he can choose whether to sign or veto them.

I’ll be astounded if Mr. Obama makes a sincere effort to compromise – "sincere" and "effort" are two words rarely associated with this president. But if serious overtures are made, Republicans shouldn’t spurn them.

Pundits tend to equate "compromise" with "doing what liberals want." The midterm landslide means Republicans are in the driver’s seat. It’s up to Democrats now to propose modifications to GOP initiatives, not vice versa.

Republicans should negotiate with their eyes open, their hands on their wallets, go no further than half way. But they must be willing to talk. "My way or the highway" didn’t work so well for Democrats. It won’t for Republicans either.

But the GOP needn’t spend much time planning negotiating strategy, because President Obama seems far more likely to increase his scofflaw behavior than to seek compromise. Republicans must be prepared to use the power of the purse to cut off funding for enforcement of executive orders he has no legal authority to issue, to punish agencies which thumb their noses at the law.

Democrats willingly followed Barack Obama into the abyss. Many regret that now. "Typhoid Barry"and his policies aren’t likely to get more popular. It’ll be fascinating to see how the relationship between Democrats and the president evolves.

Every Republican who took a senate seat from a Democrat Tuesday campaigned hard for repeal of Obamacare. Of the 60 Democrats in the senate who voted to impose Obamacare in 2009, 28 won’t be there in January, noted Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner.

If I were, say, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and I had to run in 2016 in a state where Republicans now have veto proof majorities in both houses of the legislature, I’d be thinking long and hard about that.

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