By Uche Oynebadi
THE frenzy and fury which heralded the mid-May U.S. Senate primary elections clearly underscore the importance of that institution in the governance of the country. A U.S. senator carries an ambience of power and prestige that far outweigh those of his or her law-making colleagues in the House of Representatives.  When a U.S. senator says something, even the White House pays some attention.  To be a senator is arguably the next most important political position after the U.S. presidency.  Among the powers exclusive to the senate is that of confirming presidential appointees.

Every two years, the balance of power between the Republicans and Democrats in the US senate could potentially change as one third of members of the U.S. Congress would be due for elections to renew their covenant with the electorate. If the mid-May primaries can be used a yardstick for the forthcoming Congressional elections this November, then the elections promise to be intensely fought and bitterly lost.

What makes this mid-term election in November such a huge political enterprise is the current balance of power in the senate. The Republicans already control the House of Representatives and they know that if they add the senate to their political kitty, then the Obama administration would literally be brought down on its knees. Right now, there are 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans and 2 Independents in the 100-member U.S.senate. All the Republicans need is to capture 6 senate seats and they would be in total control of the legislative arm of government.

Twenty-one out of the 37 senators up for elections are Democrats, while 15 are Republicans. The political calculus shows that Democrats have more of the uphill battle, a problem that is complicated by President Obama’s low numbers in the polls. But, while the battle rages, all eyes are now on a particular senate seat; it is the seat that is currently occupied by Senator Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader and senator from Kentucky. The senator easily beat his Tea-Party co-contestant in the primaries, but the battle before him is enormous. He is running against Democrat, Alison Grimes who is currently the Secretary of State in Kentucky.

Both contestants are poles apart on almost every issue, even in physical appearance for while Mitch is far from being described as a handsome man, Alison comes to the game with the physical appearance of a beauty queen. Born in 1942, Mitch came to the U.S. Senate in1985, when Alison was only seven years old. So, while Mitch appears to play the gender card by claiming that his opponent will only end up at the Senate’s back bench if elected, Alison has been vigorously campaigning that having spent nearly 30 years in the Senate, it was time for the old, tired and rusty Mitch to make way for younger, more energetic blood.

Unfortunately for Alison, her home state, Kentucky, is one of the areas where President Obama has his lowest rating. So, the president cannot even go there and show solidarity by campaigning with her. In fact, it is more politically expedient for President Obama to stay away from her as much as possible.  And, that fact appears to be the most prized weapon in Mitch’s political armory. At every election stop during the primaries, he would not fail to characterize Alison as a mere puppet that was hand-picked by the president to embarrass the good people of Kentucky. Since winning the Republican Party ticket, Mitch has stepped up this negative campaign tactic. But Alison is ebulliently firing back, asserting her independence and demonstrating that she is a woman of substance who made it to being the Secretary of State in Kentucky through hard work and intelligence. To win the election, her main job would be to convince the voters that she is not a creation of President Obama as Mitch has been trying to present her to the public.

One of the reasons the Mitch-Alison race for the Senate is very important is that Mitch’s failure would be a phenomenal political humiliation for the Republicans. What greater evidence of political embarrassment is there than for Republicans than to lose their number one man in the Senate to a political novice? But, Democrats have more to rejoice in Mitch’s loss. Senator Mitch McConnell was about the first Republican to send a clear message to newly elected President Barrack Obama that he would have a very rough presidency. Mitch had told reporters upon Obama’s assumption of office in 2009 that he and his colleagues would work hard to make Obama a one-term president.

Another prominent Senate election will take place in the state of Georgia where Michelle Nunn is the candidate for the Democratic Party. She is working hard to wrestle back the seat held for four-terms by her famous father, Senator Sam Nunn. The seat is currently held by Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss who has indicated his intention not to seek re-election.

The year 2014 will not just be another mid-term election in the U.S. The outcome of the polls might see Obama practically serving out his presidency at the mercy of the Republic Party that loves to him bleed. Or, the Democrats might retain control of the Senate and make life a little more comfortable for President Obama and whoever succeeds him, if that person is also a Democrat.