When the GOP Takes the Senate

From former New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, at the Hill:

Conventional wisdom is clear that the next Congress has a considerable likelihood of being a Republican Congress.

That same consensus also holds that if the GOP does indeed take control, the next two years will be marked by confrontation with the White House and even less actual legislative action than the present Congress has accomplished.

To be fair, there is some compelling logic behind these conclusions. President Obama has clearly opted out of the role of governing through legislation. He has become the most defensive president since at least World War II, blaming the Congress not just for all the ills of the nation but even for some of his international failures.

The president is pursuing this strategy while his party controls the Senate. This being so, it is difficult to imagine him shifting from that approach in a scenario where his party does not hold either chamber of Congress.

The Republican House appears to be equally averse to working with the administration. It has developed into a controlling party that has no control over itself.

Factions rule, and compromise or governance is simply not where their interests lie. Does adding a Republican Senate to the Republican House change this equation? Or, more likely, does it simply mean more of the same, only at an amplified volume?

The Beltway pundits are betting on the latter.

It seems like a good bet, especially since a Republican Senate will have its own dysfunctional factions in the persons of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) et al.

But, in fact, this is not the direction in which things would go if Republicans gained the majority in the Senate...

More.

Gregg thinks there might be compromise after November if Republicans take control, sensing that Obama wants to leave a legacy.

I doubt it, and frankly, I don't care how the Republicans look next year as long as they actually win the majority. Obama's not going to sign GOP legislation. He's way too arrogant and partisan. He'll ride things out, more lame than any lame duck in recent history.

Most of all, Republicans will deliver a crushing blow this year that demoralizes the Democrat Party. I expect Hillary Clinton to run, and most likely will capture the 2016 Democrat nomination. Republicans will be better off by taking extreme care in developing a competent and electable pool of likely GOP presidential prospects. 2016 won't be a shoo in. But the last three presidencies, which were all two-term administrations, were followed by a change of party control in the White House, so historical patterns augur well for the GOP. It's gonna be intense whatever happens.