Obama will soon be president of the United States. He inherits a nation that is divided and wounded. But also one the he promises to make a better. Across the nation, we saw red fade into blue. New Mexico is now a blue state from border to border. The election results, which increased the democratic pull across America, also sound an alarm for the republican party that they need to regroup and refocus their principles.Republican strategists have already begun recommending a new direction for their party, a return to fiscal conservatism. As a Albuquerque personal injury lawyer, I immediately wondered how any such refocusing will affect the popular talking point of “tort reform”. If in fact the Republican Party is to separate itself from the religious right and reorganize itself under economic issues, it seems likely that they will attempt to piggyback tort reform as a needed change.
Although in exit polls, tort form is not popular enough of a topic that drives elections, it is a part of the common popular issues; access to health care and the economy. Under the Republican plan, both health care and the economy will be cured by implementing tort reform. Should the Republican Party abandon the divisive issues of gay marriage, abortion, and gun rights, this would seemingly allow more resources for an attack on tort reform.
Although the issues relating to tort reform have been well researched and statistical data shows that personal injury lawyers and accident attorneys are in no way ruining the economy or health care system, it is a topic that has persisted from election year to election-year. And even if tort reform is never accomplished, the brainwashing of jury pools has a far more beneficial effect for the insurance companies in the passage of any bill or measure.
If there is to be an increased attack on the legal system by the Republicans, Democrats, injury victims, and trial attorneys must prepare for what is to come. I would hope that New Mexico personal injury attorneys continue to discuss how their clients’ cases are affected by politics, and that those in office waste no time in preparing for he newly engineered attack on injury and accident victims.