Scott Brown shocks Obama and Democrats

The days of wine and roses appeared to come to an end for Barack Obama last week as the Democrats super-majority got swept away by the election of Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts in a special Senate election to fill the seat of the late Ted Kennedy. As a result of this stunning defeat, the Democrats have lost their super-majority of 60 seats that had given then extra leeway to pass the more contentious legislation in their program. Now there is a growing realization that much of Obama's ambitious agenda for health care and economic reform may go by the boards as greater compromise with the GOP will be sought.

While I did not predict this specific turnaround in Obama's political fortunes, I did warn in an October post that Obama would likely suffer a significant setback in the coming months. I had expected some kind of "deepening political conundrum" to manifest sometime between October and December, with December somewhat more noteworthy given the proximity of the Mars retrograde station to some key points in his chart. While Obama failed to pass his crucial health care legislation in December, it turns out that the real blow was delivered a month later on January 19 by the voters of Massachusetts through their support of Scott Brown.

The other longer term influences I noted were still in effect for the January setback, namely, transiting Saturn (10 Virgo) was still in close square aspect to Obama's natal Venus (8 Gemini) and Obama was still running his Mars subperiod which will conclude on February 2 according to the Krishnamurti ayanamsha.

A closer look at the chart reveals just what planets coincided with this turn of events. In addition to Saturn-Venus, transiting Mars (19 Cancer) was exactly conjunct Obama's Sun (19 Cancer) indicating a one or two day period of intense energy and focus. While this transit does not always indicate problems, we can see that it was more likely to create headaches for Obama. His natal Sun is slightly weakened through its rulership of the dussthana 8th house and Mars is placed in that same troublesome 8th house in Obama's natal chart. So with both the giving and receiving planets in this transit conjunction associated with the 8th house, we can see how it was more likely that it should produce typical 8th house events such as setbacks, obstacles, and embarrassments.

Another interesting artifact of this chart is that transiting Jupiter (6 Aquarius) was conjunct natal Ketu (4 Aquarius). Although this was two degrees past exact, it's still fairly close. Jupiter-Ketu contacts are often connected with changes or confusion (Ketu) of one's ideals or philosophies (Jupiter). Certainly, Obama had been in trouble on health care throughout January while this conjunction was exact, but the election of Brown has forced his hand. It now looks as though the health care package will have major revisions to it. His economic program is also rapidly evolving into something more populist as voter anger against Wall St bailouts is forcing the administration to adopt a stronger tone.

So what's next for Obama? Given the very slow motion of transiting Saturn, it seems unlikely that the current malaise in his administration will significantly improve over the next year. However, he may exhibit a somewhat different energy since his Mars subperiod will end and his Rahu subperiod will begin in February. Rahu's subperiod will last until June 2012 after which it will be superseded by the Saturn mahadasha. Interestingly, both planets are placed in his 8th house, so there will likely be some degree of continuity perhaps marked by difficult progress and many twist and turns. We can watch for more unusual or sudden events here since Rahu is closely conjunct Uranus. This is a remarkable pairing of the ancient and modern planets that symbolize innovation, rebelliousness and independence. Together, they could mean that Obama himself becomes more autonomous and self-directed in his approach, as he tries to put his own unique stamp on his term in office. It may also mean that he may become more unpredictable or that events come out of the blue that compel him to change course quickly. That has already happened with the Brown election, but this sort of course change may become more frequent during the upcoming Rahu subperiod.

More immediately, Obama may get a short term lift in late January and early February as Jupiter aspects his Venus and transiting Sun and Venus conjoin his ascendant. This looks like a time when he is again in the limelight and performing well as his message will resonate with the public at large. After that, we can watch for Obama to stumble somehow in mid-February as Mars will conjoin his Mercury at 9 Cancer. At the same time, the Sun and Neptune will conjoin his Ketu, so we could see something that weakens his authority somehow or is a blow to his ego. This event may be nothing more than a gaffe or passing awkward situation, but given the ongoing medium term transits like Saturn-Pluto-Venus, there is a chance it could be something of greater importance.

This may usher in a protracted period of difficulty as the Mars Direct station on March 10 will occur in close opposition to his natal Jupiter. Mars-Jupiter aspects can symbolize conflict (Mars) over beliefs (Jupiter) or perhaps disputes (Mars) over spending and resources (Jupiter).

Obama's fortunes may improve somewhat after that as transiting Jupiter will build into the 2nd house of wealth in advance of forming a very nice aspect to his Mercury in July. This could be a high water mark of sorts for him, perhaps reflecting a major policy victory such as health care. Mercury rules his 6th house (Gemini) of health, so that is quite possible.