Election Unlikely to Resolve Senate Gridlock

Whether the Republicans of Democrats take the Senate in November it is unlikely either party will get a large enough majority to have working control of the body. In other words, the Senate in 2013 will likely function the way it does now — hobbled by partisan gridlock, The Washington Post reported.
 

Hopes of widespread gains by Republicans are fading as the economy has begun to rebound and President Barack Obama’s approval has improved. Additionally, independents are becoming wary about the GOP as a result of the social issues focused on in the Republican presidential primaries, the Post reported.

While the GOP is still expected to make gains, observers now think the result could be the fourth evenly split Senate in history.  

“We’re headed for another tied, or 51-49, Senate,” Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at the Cook Political Report told the Post. “Regardless of which party keeps the majority, nobody is going to have anything that resembles control.”
 

Democrats, who currently control the chamber, have 23 seats up for grabs in 2012 and Republicans have just 10.  

“It’s hard to know if there’s a wave out there,” Stuart Rothenberg, founder of the Rothenberg Political Report, told the Post. “There’s a wave of dissatisfaction with Congress, but it’s hard to see how that wave plays out state by state.”