With the 2012 elections looming, a Washington University professor says increasing partisanship is impeding the government from finding a lasting solution to existing problems.

During the midterm elections, Republicans criticized Democrats for ignoring America and promised the electorate that they would listen to their opinions. However, Republican actions in the lame duck session on the START treaty, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Bush tax cuts, show that they care more about scoring political points against President Obama than what the American people think.

So here we are, a day after the election…and the Democrats have lost control of Congress. Even if they maintained a majority in the Senate, they don’t have anywhere close to the 60 votes necessary to pass anything or get anything done.

With the midterm elections less than a week away, it’s important to reflect on how the two major political parties have governed. With that in mind, it’s clear that the Democrats should continue to be in power.

Washington University students have been helping out on the campaign trail as the Nov. 2 elections approach. Election season has hit the University, as an open Senate seat, multiple seats in the House of Representatives and local and state offices are up for grabs.

It’s 2010 and tri-corner hats might seem like an eccentric fashion choice, unless the wearer happens to be starring in a second grade history pageant. Not so, according to the so-called Tea Party movement, at least in the symbolic sense. This recent grass-roots movement, loosely united by fervor for limited government and original intent, has become a major force of dissent in conservative politics.

The best kind of political activist isn’t a politician at all. For anyone looking to make a difference or to sway the country with your ideals, take this advice: stay out of politics. We constantly see examples in the media of politicians engaged in never-ending battles to assert their party’s inherent superiority over the ideals of the opposition.

In a stunning reversal of fortune, the Democratic supermajority in the United States Senate has now been shattered with the election of Republican Scott Brown to succeed the late Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Brown received 52 percent to his Democratic challenger Martha Coakley’s 47 percent, an astonishing demonstration of widespread apathy and even anger at President Obama’s health care reform proposal.

I’ve always enjoyed movie scenes in which a mob of sports fans, buzzing with jubilation, simultaneously rush the streets after their team wins a championship. I’m not sure whether this type of celebration actually ever happens in real life, but I’ve always hoped it does. Moreover, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the mob. Much to my dismay, however, growing up in a city completely without professional sports has prevented this dream from being realized.