NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Time magazine is reporting this week that no matter how this election turns out, things won't change much. In the short term it's right, but in the long term, I don't think so.

The election won't really change things in the next two years. No matter which party ends up controlling the two houses of Congress, they won't have a big enough majority to prevent the other one from using the filibuster to block legislation. We are stuck with a do nothing Congress for at least the next two years.

There are two reasons for this. One is that President Obama, a gifted orator, is a lousy politician. As much as we may hate the term politician, that's exactly what a President has to be to be effective. Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton were master politicians, and they got things done. Obama and Jimmy Carter put themselves above politics, and it hurt them.

Johnson and Clinton would call members of Congress personally to get their votes. Carter and Obama left that chore to aides, and Congressmen and Senators, with their massive egos resented that. Johnson and Clinton would invite members of Congress to the White House for coffee or a meal. Carter would invite members of Congress to a White House breakfast meeting, and then send them a bill for the meal.

The other reason we face two more years of stalemate is because even though we are supposed to have a system where the majority rules, the Tea Party minority is really controlling things. I know it's a cliché, but in the Republican Party the inmates are running the asylum. They prevent moderate Republicans like Lamar Alexander of Tennessee from working with moderate Democrats by threatening them with primary challengers if they do. They defeated Eric Cantor in Virginia, and almost beat Thad Cochran in Mississippi. Cantor and Cochran would never be mistaken for liberals, but they weren't conservative enough for the Tea Party.

That same Tea Party is why this election is so important in the long run. These people are borderline crazy. They don't believe in compromise. It's their way or no way. The last thing we need to do is put more of them in the Senate or the House.

Tom Cotton is a solid Tea Party man. He votes against any spending bill, even if it is desperately needed, like disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. He voted against the Farm Bill because of its food stamp component, even though food stamp funding was cut in the bill. He didn't have any problem with Riceland Foods using a loophole in the law to make itself eligible for a federal subsidy check, but he did object to needy people getting food.

Also, like any good Tea Party follower, Cotton is absolutely opposed to President Obama. If the man walked on water Cotton would criticize him for making children think they didn't need to learn how to swim. If you agree with him, and plan on voting for him for that reason, you are wasting your vote. As I've already pointed out, Obama has little chance of getting anything through Congress for the rest of his presidency. The next Senator will spend most of his term with whoever the next President is. Mark Pryor has shown that he is willing to work with Republicans. Tom Cotton has shown that he won't work with Democrats.

Tom Cotton is not a bad person, he's just wrong. Putting him in the Senate would just make the Tea Party more powerful, and that's the last thing we need.