GOP Gains Could Lead To Gridlock

More sitzkrieg than blitzkrieg, the GOP machine maneuvered to gain senatorships, governorships, judgeships and the like, surprisingly with a minimum of pretense.

The final tally: The elephants gave the jackasses one fierce noogie.

Most have heard of the consequences and repercussions of the Republican coup de grace in the U.S. Senate, but that donkey has been beaten to death. If a true to form "power shift" is either what you desired or feared, look no farther than Raleigh.

Monday evening, the Democrats held a 35-15 majority in the N.C. Senate and a 62-58 advantage in the House. As of Thursday, the Senate was split 26-22, although final tallies are not in and -- sound the trumpets of Jericho -- the House is barreling toward a 60-60 split.

Recounts are sure to come in the three still-unofficial races. Each side is dying for the coveted 61, but there is another, possibly even more pressing concern with the 60-60 House: No one knows how anything will work.

The N.C. Constitution offers no advice, let alone a course of action, for next year's House. And next year's chamber will spearhead some mighty weighty discussions and litigation, the greatest of which are the revenue crisis and the never-say-never state lottery hoopla.

But who is going to run the show? OK, forget running the show, who will determine which representatives fall into the power positions, like speaker of the house or minority leader? Without 61, who gets to appoint committee chairmen or decide who gets first dibs on the microphone?

Immediately after the elections, current Speaker of the House Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, established that he would like to keep his job. Real surprise.

House Minority Leader Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, maintains, "It's all speculation at this point. Sure, we'd like to have 61, but it doesn't look like we're going to get it."

Seemingly frustrated with the incessant carousel of questions regarding the impending 60-60 split, Daughtry pointed back to the lone truth -- that no one knows anything.

"We'd like to think that we can put aside our differences and govern North Carolina," Daughtry said. "But we don't know. It's sort of like kissing your sister."

Translation: The 60-60 split isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just something both parties would rather avoid.

If the Republicans are kissing their sisters then, one has to assume, the Democrats are kissing their labradors.

About 46 percent of voters turned out for Tuesday's elections, an above-average turnout for a midterm election. Those voters decreed that there shall be one Republican U.S. senator, that there shall be Republican domination of the appellate courts and that there shall be increased parity in the General Assembly.

Pundits claim that low voter turnout is a detriment to the Democratic Party, but research shows that Republicans gain the most when voters flock to their voting cubicles. Since it's not the fault of the voters, whose fault is it?

The exaggerated 35-15 majority in the N.C. Senate was bound to be hacked up, the House only teetered from 62-58 to 60-60, and North Carolina now has one Democratic senator and one Republican senator.

I also have tried to blame the North Carolina Democratic Party, but no dice.

In hindsight, it's crystal-clear -- the voters, furious with the drawn-out session and angered with the General Assembly's impotency, decided they wouldn't oblige by voting either party to a majority.

Moreover, the voters systematically removed every single last appropriations chairman. Those in charge of next year's money will not have touched this year's.

So after months of clandestine committee meetings, the voters Tuesday instituted their diabolical plan to frustrate the General Assembly. They chose one Democrat for every one Republican.

The title of the wily scheme, "The People's Guide to Parity and Payback: How to Make North Carolina Legislators Kiss Their Sisters."

Nathan Perez can be reached at nperez@email.unc.edu.