“Gary Andres”:http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/will-republican-house-help-or-hurt-obama-s-reelection-chances_518122.html:
bq. Speculation about how the presidential/congressional kabuki dance plays with voters abound. While Obama might like to blame the Republicans for whatever ails his political soul, his reelection fate hinges a lot more on the strength of the economy than the behavior of the GOP legislative majority.
“John Judis”:http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/79246/independent-voters-barack-obama-midterms?page=0,1:
bq. The primary criterion by which these voters will decide who to support is the state of the economy, not the size or civility or transparency of the government.