Will Congress take new course?

NOW THAT SENATE minority leader Mitch McConnell's No. 1 priority is officially dead, maybe Congress can get back to the business of governing this country.

In October 2010, McConnell – now leader of a slightly smaller minority – laid out the Republicans' agenda if they reclaimed control of Congress. The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president, he said.

With one astonishingly stupid remark, the tone was set for the next two years.

Never mind the staggering business of reining in the national debt or getting the economy back on its feet – the split 112th Congress couldn't accomplish even the simplest tasks, such as passing spending bills and rescuing a near bankrupt Postal Service.

Every day was another opportunity – not to work for members' constituents but to undercut the other guy.

Their scorched-earth method of governing has earned them distinction as members of the absolute worst Congress – with the lowest approval rating ever.

Way to go. They've carved out a place in history.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama won a second term Tuesday – and it wasn't even a squeaker.

Although Democrats bolstered their majority in the Senate and picked up a few seats in the House, the dynamics are essentially the same as they were after the 2010 midterms: a divided government that can't accomplish anything if the players don't work together.

We can only hope they don't rehash the same game they've been playing the past two years.

Unlike McConnell poisoning the well in 2010, Tuesday night saw defeated Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney urging a new course.

At a time like this we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing, he said in conceding the bruising race. This is a time for great challenges for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.

So do we.

But we also know much of that will depend on the new Congress.

The York Dispatch