Gridlock is coming.

With the Democratic party winning a narrow majority in the House and the GOP on track to keep control of the Senate, we are going to see a new era of gridlock in Washington unlike anything we’ve seen before. The last time a party besides the President’s controlled a house of Congress was during the Obama Administration, but that was before folks in each party were accusing the other of being the end of civilization. Even then, very little got done.

The “Blue Wave” was more of a ripple.

There were apocalyptic projections for Republicans at the beginning of this cycle, but the Democrats failed to retake the Senate and thus their power to oppose the Trump agenda will be limited. However, you can’t diminish their accomplishment: Democrats haven’t controlled a house of Congress since 2014, and the House districts have been redrawn to favor Republicans.

Not much will really change here in New York.

With Andrew Cuomo heading back to Albany and Kirsten Gillibrand and John Katko returning to Washington, it’s business as usual in the Empire State. One exception is SU Professor Rachel May, who will be a new face in Albany after her upset primary defeat of Sen. David Valesky and easy general election win. She is likely to take a much more progressive tack than Valesky did.

I think this is a good night for America. Not only did we have record-shattering turnout, we also have a check on President Trump in Washington. He’s fixated on winning, and my hope is that, like Bill Clinton in 1994, he’ll take this chance to get bipartisan wins that appeal to all Americans.

James Pezzullo is a public relations major. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at jpezzull@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @JamesPezzullo.

Published on November 6, 2018 at 11:05 pm