| January 2011 New Year, Old Conflicts
 A New Year dawns in Washington with lots of changes in store, but the same conflicts that marked 2010 – battles over the size, cost and role of government – will only intensify. The House is back in Republican hands after four years in Democratic control and the Senate is more evenly divided after the GOP’s return from the political wilderness in the midterm elections. And while President Obama has shown some signs of reaching to the right in his discussion of debt and deficits and a tax deal hammered out with Republican leaders during a lame duck session in December, the fundamental divide between him and the newly empowered GOP remains very deep. A quick look at the agenda for the incoming Republican majority tells you all you need to know. At the top of the GOP to do list is repealing, or at least hobbling, Obama’s national health care law. Another Republican priority is to shower the Obama administration with subpoenas to investigate White House programs and policies.
Similar battles will rage between Obama and congressional Republicans over the administration’s new global warming rules at the Environmental Protection Agency, the regulations being created for the financial industry and labor policies. Meanwhile, President Obama is getting his team in place for a 2012 reelection campaign. Top political adviser David Axelrod is expected to leave the White House early this year to go to Chicago, where he will start ramping up the Obama-Biden campaign machine. Taking his place in Washington will be 2008 Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe. The new campaign footing will also manifest itself in the way Obama interacts with Americans. After his party’s midterm “shellacking” Obama promised a more aggressive effort to sell Democratic policies to voters and his top advisers have said that the coming year will see Obama on the road more often and interacting more with ordinary Americans. Obama spent more time on the road in his first two years than either of his two predecessors, so to achieve that goal, Obama will really be racking up the frequent flyer miles.
On the Republican side, the field for 2012 is shaping up more slowly than in previous years as candidates wary of overexposure and a too-long campaign season are holding back their decisions.One of the first orders of business for Republicans in January will be sorting out their national party apparatus. The Republican National Committee will meet on Jan. 14 to decide who will lead the party through the coming election, a contest that many say is a make or break moment for the GOP. Four challengers are looking to knock off embattled Chairman Michael Steele and the 168 members of the committee remain divided on their choice. Democrats are standing pat with Chairman Tim Kaine, who is already beginning the arduous task of not only reelecting a politically challenged president, but also defending 23 Democratic-held Senate seats and trying to lead House Democrats out of the minority. It’s only January, but time is already running out.
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