Midterm Election debunked big myths

David Harsanyi offers an excellent analysis posted Friday on Reason.com that reviews results of the Midterm Election and finds facts contrary to the spin of operatives and most media.

Guess what. Voters don't really hate "obstructionism." They hate the other party. If we're to believe the media-authored account of the past six years Harsanyi writes, the GOP has made rigid obstructionism of Barack Obama's policies its sole agendum. In victory and in concession speeches, candidates of both parties still claim that "dysfunction" has been the biggest problem in Washington.

Where exactly have Republicans suffered for their stubbornness? The reality is that Republicans have been generously rewarded for their tenacity in stopping post-Obamacare progressive policy. Since 2010, the Republicans have pulled together a historic string of victories—with scores of seats changing hands in the House. If anything, what we learned is that politicians are far likelier to be penalized by the electorate for passing unworkable and overreaching legislation than they are for stopping it.

Though it's true that most voters tell pollsters they abhor the bickering in Washington, according to exit polls more than a third of those who voted for a Republican congressional candidate claimed to be dissatisfied or angry with GOP leaders in Congress. And a quarter of those who voted Democratic claimed they were dissatisfied with Obama. The reality is that only one party was punished.

American voters didn't oust incumbents; they ousted Democrats. If Sen. Pat Roberts (R- Kan.) could come back to win his race against a candidate whose entire rationale for running was to end partisanship, this was about holding not all elites accountable but Democrats.

Click here for more from Reason.com.

The Fox News commentator whose background includes a stint as chief resident in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital says Barack Obama is “seething” over his election losses and likely will do something “reckless” – even to the point of provoking an impeachment proceeding so he once again can be the center of attention.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for the Washington Post and a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard. He has won many journalism awards, including the 2013 William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence.