HOW DOES STASIS BOG DOWN?:

Election results rattle some Democrats: With independent voters favoring GOP candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, many in Congress wonder whether they'll lose electoral support themselves if they stick with Obama on controversial issues. (James Oliphant and Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons, November 5, 2009, LA Times)

Exit polls circulating on the House floor Wednesday were even more unnerving to Democrats. The Republican candidates, the polls indicated, had received the votes of two-thirds of independent voters.

Now, as the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate prepare for next year's midterm elections, some moderate Democrats are wondering whether they can afford to follow President Obama's ambitious legislative agenda on such controversial issues as healthcare and climate change. One said the results were a "wake-up call."

"There are going to be a lot more tensions between the White House and Congress," predicted Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats. "They've been under the surface so far -- and they're going to come out in the open."

The president's agenda already has been bogged down by an extended and draining battle over healthcare, one that could stretch into the new year.

After that bruising fight, bitter conflicts loom over climate change, financial market reform and immigration. That sets up a potential conflict between the White House and some Democrats who want to avoid controversial votes that can -- and almost certainly will -- be used against them by their opponents in next year's campaigns.