What will the next generation of Reps and Senators be like?

More uncompromising shitheads.

Not sure what to expect Josie. But what I do know is states and local governments are under more stress than ever before so Senators and Congressmen are going to have to work harder than ever to help bring jobs and Federal support to their states. These are difficult tasks at best so I expect to see continued pressure to oust the incumbents.

I think they will continue to be idiots for the most part. Look at the trend. I don’t think things will change until there is a drastic disaster, the country has to hit bottom, and suffer like never before to snap people, and our elected officials, out of it. But, I do think the biggest problem is the average citizen, afterall they/we vote in the idiots. Like all addicts everyones bottom is different. So, some people might think it is bad now, but of course it can get much worse.

Too much of our citizenry are easily swayed by scare tactics and advertising 101. Repeat the same thing over and over, and everyone begins to believe you. Ignore history or rewrite, have a whole bunch of people out there who never check the facts, easy to sway them. It happens on all sides. From where I sit it is more extreme on the right, but for sure I see it on the left also.

The same spineless non-leaders that the current ones are.

It would be nice if at least they had entirely different names. No guarantee new means better but at least there may be some satisfaction that the people cleaned house for once. Not going to happen.

More of the same.

I think it is more likely that the world will get used to political brinkmanship as the normal state of affairs than it will be that politicians learn to solve problems more calmly.

I think you short change the power of the presidency. The president typically sets the agenda, recommends the budget, and carries tremendous influence over the policies pushed in congress. We currently have a mini revolt on our hands where the two parties vehemently disagree on the way forward, Do we grow the federal government and hand more and more power and control to Washington, or do we shrink thier size and scope. It is unlikely we will know the answer before Nov. 2012. That will be pivotal in deciding the make up of both congress and the whitehouse. If we believe the past two years have been productive and moved us in the right direction, Democrats will be elected and we can expect a much larger federal government with much more control over our economy and lives. If we think it has not worked and moved us in the wrong direction, we will see Republicans elected and the government will flatten out (but still not shrink).

The difference in the parties has never been so distinct. Which ever side your on, the difference is very dramatic. Whether that transforms into change, is highly speculative.

Actually, @Jaxk, even if Democrats are elected, I think the size of the government will fall. The Dems are too afraid of the Reps and Tea Farties. They are in a race towards the right with their tails between their legs. Which means, we will see more bad economy. If the Reps win, we’ll see an even worse economy. Hopefully everyone will learn that cutting taxes and spending doesn’t work in terms of creating jobs or growing the economy.