ETHS AP Government & Politics 2015 Blog

Charlie Evans

Gordon

Gov

2-19-16

NBC New Article Questions

1. Because if the Democrats win back the Senate and lose the presidency in November, then they would control both branches of the government for about 2 weeks.  Obama is in power until January 20th, so Obama could send a nominee into the new Democratic majority.  They would then have 17 days to vote for the nominee that Obama sent in.  A consensus in political terms is a strong and broad agreement between political parties.
2. Obama has power in picking the candidate, but the Republican majority senate would not approve this candidate, in hope that a Republican would become president.  But, if the Democrats win the majority of the Senate in November, Obama would have power to chose a candidate for those 17 days in January.  Obama may have the power to chose the next Supreme Court Justice, but if the Senate has a Republican majority, he will not have a great chance of choosing the next Justice.
3. A “lame duck” president is one who at one time has a lot of power, but then quickly loses most of it.  President Obama fits into this definition, because if the Democrats don’t gain the majority in the November elections, Obama’s nominee for the next Supreme Court Justice may not be considered.  Even if the Democrats don’t gain majority, I believe that Obama use his charisma to influence congress and his cabinet, and not leave office as a lame duck president.