November 3rd, 2010- T.V. sets and computer monitors flicker on across the United States as Americans tune in to see a glimpse of what the country has become over the course of the previous day. Morning news networks report the country's shift to the right in yesterday's midterm elections. The House of Representatives: Republican, Governors: seeing red, State Legislatures: marching to the right. Only the Senate remains in the hands of the Democrats, who only two years earlier had seen their own huge victories in each of the same arenas. Anchors, pundits, bloggers, and internet commentators across America remark that this election was President Obama's midterm report card, a failing grade etched into it in Republican red ink.
The day sees the likes of John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, the expected next and current Speakers of the House, respectively, release statements of celebration or mourning. President Barack Obama, in a statement to the nation hints at "corrections" in his administration. The mood of Democratic supporters around the nation straddles the verge of disappointment and anger. Some turn their blame upon their President. Others see a new, emerging political movement as their enemy: the Tea Party.
Unlike the equal-parts somber/angry mood of Democrats, Tea Party supporters are overjoyed, absolutely ecstatic. There isn't even need to stroke their own egos, everyone seems to be doing that for them. This, they say, is a bellwether for the Tea Party, they're only getting started.
January 3rd, 2011- Two months after proving themselves in the midterms, Republican and Democratic Senators and Representatives are sworn in and seated on Capitol Hill. As they recant the formalities of opening the 112th session of Congress, the Stars and Stripes are raised over the chambers on either side of the great pearly dome.
Some would say the red stripes shown just a little brighter, the blue canton just a little dimmer that day over the House of Representatives as John Boehner first struck his gavel against the podium he would rule from for years to come. The next two years would be ones for the history books, but few would have been able to say exactly why on that momentous day.