The U.S. Capitol, Washington D.C.

(AP Photo)

Share

Interview with AS/COA's Susan Segal: Obama after Midterm Elections

AS/COA's president and CEO analyzes the impact of the election results on President Barack Obama's agenda regarding immigration and U.S.-Latin American relations.

1.  What are the implications of the mid-term electoral results in the U.S. for the political agenda of President Obama, for instance, the TPP, the immigration reform, etc.?

We should not misinterpret what the elections results really say. I think there is a general dissatisfaction on what is happening in Washington and people are exasperated with Congress and with the executive branch. So what the Republicans see as a mandate, I do not really see it that way. What the election said, more than anything, is that people want president Obama and Congress to work together to get something done.

As for the TPP, president Obama will need fast track and I do not know whether he will get it. I think that the TPP is good for the U.S. and trade policy is something that potentially Republicans can agree upon. However, the real answer is that I do not know if trade policy is something that mainstream America really thinks about.

2. What do you think would be in the Republican agenda for the next Congressional period?

I believe that both Democrats and Republicans want to get something done. The question is whether they can agree on what gets done.

3. What effects could the Republican victory in the last election have in the next presidential election in the U.S.?

It will depend on who the presidential candidates will be. If you look at the politics in the U.S., and this is a personal point of view, voters are basically centrists, either center-right-or center-left. But because of districting in the country, in some areas mainstream Republicans and Democrats do not necessarily win primaries. My view is that it is too early to predict what will happen and what we will see is potential candidates positioning themselves throughout the upcoming year....

Read the full interview here.

Related

Explore