Key Senate race tests Obama agenda

The Democrats' plans could be turned upside down by a GOP win in the Massachusetts election.

By Jim Cramer Jan 19, 2010 8:16AM
TheStreetWashington, D.C. © Bilderbuch/Design Pics/CorbisBy Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Can we just call this session off until we see who wins in Massachusetts? Can we see what will happen in the Senate rather than what will happen with IBM (IBM) or Citigroup (C)?

 

We know that everything from the Cadbury (CBY) surrender to the Brink's (CFL) job means nothing if Scott Brown beats Martha Coakley, the woman who called Curt Schilling a Yankees fan in some gaffe that should cause all of Beantown to switch to the GOP.

 

I can't stress how important this election is, because we have a dual-issue president with health care and bank bashing, and neither plays out all that well among the investor class.

 

Of course, the president is back with the Wall Street/Main Street thing, oblivious to the fact that the stock market rally has enabled Americans to feel a little better about themselves and spend a little more while they wait for an employment turnaround.

 

Who knows what could happen if they didn't just go after the banks and go after the health care industry. We could, conceivably, be doing things to fix infrastructure, putting people to work or even getting an energy bill that creates jobs through natural gas instead of just stifling industry through cap and trade.

 

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I know one senator can't mean that much in the long term. But the notion that Washington will always be front and center because of the Democratic agenda could be turned upside down, and Washington could become more of a sideshow, which would allow us to focus, once again, on earnings and business and not anger, politics and non-job creation.

 

So we wait.

 

And we trade around IBM and Citigroup and CSX (CSX). And we wait some more. Because Wednesday, the makeup of Congress could be quite different, and the health care agenda that has bogged us down for a baseball, football and now basketball season will no longer be able to paralyze us, even if you think the thrust of the plan is right!

 

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

 

Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman of TheStreet. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO.

 

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