Pundits called this midterm the Seinfeld election because, like the NBC sitcom, all its sound and fury signified not much. Voters agreed. They largely tuned out, concluding that those seeking office didn't reflect their worries about the strength of the economic recovery. Politicians typically try to squeeze some wisdom about the popular will from the ballot results. But a confused campaign yields a muddled mandate. So don't expect a consensus over a growth agenda to emerge from this mess. We should probably state now that this issue of Fortune went to press before Election Day. There will be no shortage of ruminating about What It All Means once the verdict is in, but the depressing truth is that much of that is already knowable. Republicans notched their gains in both chambers of Congress by running against President Obama, not by pressing an affirmative vision of what they'd do as a party if handed the controls. "It's only half the equation," Republican pollster David Winston says, "and my viewpoint is that's not enough."
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