Repudiation for President Obama?

The lead story in today’s New York Times, “Finding Clues to the Future in Flood of Midterm Data,” provides a scorecard to follow for election night, but it is just wishful thinking. All indications point to a Republican tsunami in races across the nation.

Thanks, in large part, to the election of Christine O’Donnell by the Tea Party in Delaware, it looks like the Democrats will hold on to the Senate while losing the House. Even this, however, poses major difficulties ahead for President Obama, because with House leadership comes the power of subpoena, and the Republicans have pledged to use that power to launch a series of investigations.

The presence of the Tea Party complicates matters further because these starry-eyed individuals will be coming to Washington with a series of expectations about changing the way things are done. Their drive for ideological purity will thwart any attempts at negotiations between Democrats and Republicans and probably result in even more of a gridlock than we are facing today.

Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton are crisscrossing the country in a last desparate effort to gather up votes.

It all seems like too little too late. The real test will come the day after election day when President Obama will decide how to react to the Republican victory. Will he cave in to Republican demands or fight for what he believes in?