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The World from Berlin

The Time of the Democrats

It's almost a foregone conclusion that the Democrats are going to win back the House of Representatives -- and maybe even the Senate. But what will the Democrats do with their victory?

Americans have hardly even begun voting, but many think the results of Tuesday's Midterm Elections are already a foregone conclusion: The Democrats -- so goes the conventional wisdom this time around -- will take a majority in the House of Representatives and will make substantial gains in the Senate. Congressional elections are often a reflection of the White House's popularity, and right now, a failing policy in Iraq and abundant political scandals are casting a dark shadow over the Republican Party.

With the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for grabs, the consequences of a shift in power are huge. Major German newspapers are already looking beyond the vote.

Never underestimate the "legendary effectiveness of Karl Rove", worries the left-wing Die Tageszeitung, still shell-shocked from George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. "If (the Democrats) can't manage to win at least the House of Representatives this time, then nothing can help them." But, they probably will win. The question is: then what? One vote on Iraq will not undo the decades of progress conservatives have made in shifting American values to the right. Plus, "the longer the President 'stays the course', the easier it will be for (Republicans) to distance themselves from him in the future -- and not lose the protest vote to Democrats." Indeed, the Republican Party will "rediscover itself" over the next two years while Democrats run Congress, the paper predicts gloomily. In the end, the Democrats don't have the political machinery of the Republicans, so "nothing will change." In 2008 they'll be ready to take back Congress and put a new Republican face in the White House.

What the Democrats might do with control of Congress is something on the mind of center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, as well -- and the paper cautions the party to wield its power thoughtfully. Two years from now, when the Americans go to the polls again and look at what Democrats have done with their mandate, their typical refrain of "we wanted to but couldn't" will not be good enough. A difficult balancing act lies ahead. Democrats will have to become an effective "counterweight to the president," but they'll also have to "prove their willingness to cooperate." The paper suggests Democrats resist the temptation to exact revenge on a President that has proven so divisive. Instead, they should focus on the central question of Iraq and suggest a timetable for the withdrawal of troops. Democrats, writes the editor, "must prove they deserve America's trust."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung makes little effort to downplay the US Midterm elections, referring to Tuesday as "World Voting Day." Europeans so desperately want the Democrats to win -- and the image of "Bush as the enemy" has become so deeply ingrained in the European conscience -- that they are starting to believe a real shift in power is happening. Not so fast, writes the daily. "Whether this is actually the end of Republican dominance will only be seen in two years," when Democrats will have to answer for their time in power. Iraq is certainly the core issue in the campaign, but Democrats can't forget the domestic issues -- like corruption and pension reform -- that need to be tackled. Many say the American political system is paralyzed when the White House and Congress are controlled by different parties. But with respect to American democracy, writes the paper, it wouldn't be all that bad.

Conservative daily Die Welt would like to remind its readers that America is the only superpower in the world. So, those Europeans who fantasize about an "alternative model to America," need to stop dreaming. Regardless of the outcome of the US Midterm elections, the US's role in the world will not change. A Democratic victory will not lead to withdrawal from Iraq, and the threats from rogue states Iran and North Korea do not depend on who controls the US Congress. This, writes the paper, "Europe likes to forget."

-- Joshua Gallu, 11:30 a.m. CET