Harold's Left:

1. The "Tea Party Patriots" will assert themselves as a huge influence on the Republican Party

As evidenced by the RNC's lackluster chairman Michael Steele's comments that "if I wasn’t doing this job, I’d be out there with the tea partiers,” The Republican Party, or the conservative movement as a whole is moving in an alarming direction. As we all know, the Tea Party movement, which derives its misguided name from the Boston Tea Party, is against all things government, equality, and justice. Theirs is a movement seemingly more rooted in intolerance of progress than sound public policy. Where was the Tea Party movement when government spending exploded under the Bush administration? Where were they when the deficit mushroomed starting in 2001? Is it merely a coincidence that they spring to life when America elects a black, progressive president? Hardly. The Tea Party movement is this: One which sees it's goal as 'preserving' some silly notion of America that has never really existed. "Sarah Palin's America", in which diversity is a crutch, religious freedom is nonexistent, and progress is loathed. Despite these qualities, their movement gains more and more followers on the Right, and will be a force to be reckoned with in 2010.

2. National security will begin to over-shine Obama's domestic agenda

Once the cause of health care reform fades in the coming months (although it will still be a big issue this November in the midterm elections) expect national security to pick up the mantle as the issue of the day next to the economy. Obama will have the extraordinary challenge of showing how his decision to send 30,000 more troops to the mountains of Afghanistan is really making America safer (I for one don't see it at all). He'll also have the serious challenge of confronting our enemies as they coalesce in places like Somalia, Yemen, and Indonesia. On top of that Iran may indeed be producing nuclear weapons underground, which could prompt airstrikes from Israel. There is no more important task for any American president, particularly a post 9/11 one, than keeping America safe.

3. Republican gains in the midterms will make legislation nearly impossible

It's inevitable that Republicans will pick up lots of seats in both the House and the Senate while it's unlikely they will garner majorities in either house given their sizable numbers disadvantage at the moment. However, what seems nearly certain is that governance will come to a screeching halt because of it. Despite the fact that our Founders did not intend for this, the filibuster and it's threat have become the exclusive legislating tactic for the obstructionist Republican party. Since Democrats gained a majority in 2006, the threat of the filibuster has caused the use of cloture votes, asking for a 60 seat approval, to skyrocket. Given that a 60 vote majority will be impossible on any issue that the Obama administration wants to push after the midterms, expect the Democratic agenda to come to a screeching halt.

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