Four more years of gridlock coming

Bob Jack, North Las Vegas

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.

Expect four more years of gridlock, as election results point to the need for a permanent change in Republican Party political strategy. Demographics and welfare economics are the hallmarks of a new and successful Democratic strategy, which gives the party a slight edge in the voting and a defining majority of voting Americans.

It’s too much of an uphill battle for the principles of a smaller government that works more efficiently and listens to the pleas of businesses for pro-business health care, tax and regulatory relief in order to invest and grow. This is the new refrain in which the Republican Party must learn to deal from a lasting minority position, or change its traditional values in order to win elections.

The perception of the electorate tends to be that the president is leading a successful comeback effort to cure the economy, even though progress is painfully slow and 23 million Americans remain unemployed. After all, reasons the majority of the electorate, the economic pit was so deep when Obama took over that not much more could be expected. And in the political arena, perception is reality.

As a result, Republicans again will be required to press for their principles from a minority position while polices are in the hands of a president who has demonstrated a desire for left-wing ideological solutions. Unless Obama reaches out and is willing to compromise, the nation is looking forward to four more years of similar political machinations and gridlock.