By Nicholas G. Karambelas

It is rare for such losses to result in a change in the party which holds the majority of the seats in either house of Congress. However, there is nothing conventional or routine about this election. The most obvious reason for this is the ascendance of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party. Traditionally, the Republican Party has been hierarchical in the sense that it was controlled by office holders and functionaries who rose through the ranks over the years. That Republican Party is apparently gone, at least for this election. Those Republicans who have supported and encouraged the Tea Party movement concluded from the 2008 election that, to remain majorities in Congress, voters must be motivated at an emotional level. Consequently, Republican candidates have emerged who base their campaigns on the fear-hope paradigm rather than the policy position-art of governing paradigm.

The less obvious but equally significant difference in this midterm election is that it is the first election in which the effects of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United are present. This decision overturned as unconstitutional the 104-year old law which prohibited corporations and labor unions from directly participating in federal election campaigns. Citizens United enables corporations and labor unions to directly make independent expenditures such as funding films and advertisements in connection with a federal election as long as they do not directly contribute to the campaign of a particular candidate. When the decision was issued in June 2010, the commentary was that corporations generally would not make independent expenditures in large numbers for fear of compromising brand names with some voters. However, it appears that corporations have made independent expenditures particularly for political advertisements in far greater numbers then had been expected.

Party majority in Congress is highly significant especially in the House. The majority party elects the Speaker of the House. As a practical matter, no legislation reaches the House floor for a vote unless the Speaker approves. The majority party has subpoena power which means it causes a House committee to initiate an investigation and compel individuals to appear and testify in any such investigation. Given the expansion of the Senate filibuster rules, a simple majority in the Senate is less significant than in the House because 60 senators will be required to pass any legislation of substance. In both houses of Congress, the majority party controls the committees in each house. It has been said that the committees are the workshops of Congress. Any significant legislation originates in the committees. The majority party appoints the professional staff of the committees.

Unlike the parliamentary systems in the United Kingdom or continental Europe, U.S. Congress has substantial power and authority to influence and even make U.S. foreign policy. When Americans vote for House members and Senators, they are voting for a particular viewpoint on foreign policy. The effects of the Great Recession as well as the Iraq - Afghanistan Wars, which are domestic issues since military U.S. has been committed, have dominated the House and Senate campaigns. With the possible exception of Iran, foreign policy issues have not generally been priorities in the House and Senate campaigns. Cyprus is rarely mentioned. Greece is mentioned only in connection with its current financial issues. Yet the rule of law precepts and international law principles which U.S. policymakers claim to value, are undermined by the continuing illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus, the failure of Turkey to adhere to the treaties which set the boundaries in the Aegean Sea, even though one of those treaties is U.S. law, and the denial of religious freedom to the Ecumenical Patriarchate by Turkey which also violates a U.S. law, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Moreover, given the increasingly cordial relationship between Turkey and Iran, U.S. Treasury officials had to explain to the Turkish government the legal effect of legislation passed this summer which enhanced the sanctions on Iran.

Whether or not the majorities change in either the House or Senate, the American Hellenic community will face the usual challenge - educating House members and Senators about these issues and why they are important. This challenge will exist without regard to whether a House member or Senator is a Tea Partier, a Democrat or even of Hellenic descent.

The American Hellenic community will always have friends in Congress. But as President Harry Truman advised, “if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” The purpose of such educating is to turn friends into advocates.

Nicholas G. Karambelas practices law in Washington DC and New York and he is active in politics.