Post-Election Analysis

The super PACs failed in their mission
To win with financial munition.
Though pols who would carry
Find cash necessary,
It's not a sufficient condition.
* * *
The House GOP had consistently
Obstructed Obama insistently,
But now they're at pains,
Having garnered no gains,
To avoid going cliff-diving fiscally.
* * *
The nation would like to see whether
The parties can now work together
To right our finances,
Or what are the chances
That partisanship rules as ever?

The results of the 2012 US elections have provided rich fodder on which political junkies of all stripes may chew. The New York Times reported this morning that wealthy sponsors of conservative super PACs got no return on the investments that they made in such vehicles as "American Crossroads." Co-founded by Karl Rove, this super PAC, along with the affiliated "Restore our Future," collected about $300 million, seemingly for naught. Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and Republican party chairman who helped raise money for the two groups, consoled himself that their spending helped keep the race as close as it was.

House Republicans seem to be chewing a little more thoughtfully these days, as evidenced by their newly cooperative rhetorical stance with regard to the "fiscal cliff." Speaker John Boehner struck the new tone in remarks at the Capitol: "Mr. President, this is your moment. We’re ready to be led — not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. We want you to lead, not as a liberal or a conservative, but as president of the United States of America." Of course, many have already predicted such conciliatory talk, followed by a reversion to partisanship, so we must be cautious in our expectations.