(The Loop 21) — After next Tuesday’s midterm elections it is very likely that there will be more Republicans in Congress than there are right now. Whether the Democrats lose their majorities in both Houses remains to be seen, but their numbers are going to go down. This means that President Obama will need to prepare to face new challenges and obstacles with an increased number of Republicans on a mission to make him a one-term President, to paraphrase Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The following is a list of 5 action items that President Obama should do in order to be successful under a new and more conservative Congress.
1. Meet with key Republicans in the U.S. Senate immediately after the midterm elections.
While it is true that there will be fewer “moderate” Republicans left in the Congress after the midterms, there will still be a handful. They are the same ones whose names were dropped during the healthcare and financial reform debates, Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Scott Brown (R-MA). These three at the very least should be on the President’s list of “reasonable” Senators who will hopefully not filibuster every single piece of legislation. Senator Snowe who is up for re-election in 2012 actually has an incentive to work with the President and he is in a strong position to negotiate with her.
