If you enjoy political intrigue, now is the time to watch the U. S. Congress.
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If you enjoy political intrigue, now is the time to watch the U. S. Congress.
The Democrats have the majority in both Houses. In the House, the split is currently 221/211 in favor of the Democrats with three open seats. The Senate is currently 50/50, but the Democrats have the Presidency, and the Vice-President casts any tie-breaker votes, giving the Democrats the edge.
Realistically, we currently have as close to a tie as you can get. This can make for great debate or an absolute deadlock. We are seeing a little bit of both. More importantly, both the Democrats and Republicans are having an identity crisis. They don’t seem to know what their respective values are. It looks like it may take a while for this scenario to work itself out. In the meantime we might as well sit back and enjoy the fight.
The Republicans have never really figured out how to deal with Trump. Trump was certainly outside of the mainstream of the Republican Party when he ran in 2016. Trump beat all of the party faithful and was the nominee. Trump then beats the unbeatable Hillary Clinton and becomes President.
Political pundits have yet to get a handle on the success of the Trump campaign in 2016. To a large extent, the political organization that Trump developed has in many ways overtaken and has become the current Republican Party, although with its divisions.
• See Mr. Koritz's complete column in the Friday, Mar. 5 print edition of the Clinton Journal or now in the Journal E-Edition.