I guess Washington just doesn’t get it.

Midterm elections should always be considered a referendum on the status quo – a chance for the American voting populace to issue a thumbs up or thumbs down on its representatives.

The 2010 election was a tough time to be an incumbent. The Republicans saw a 61-seat increase to take the House, and incumbent senators were dropping like flies.

The American people made it clear: “Old Washington” needs to go. But both parties are already showing signs of ignoring such a perfectly clear mandate.

You would think the Democrats would have seen the writing on the wall better than anyone. The Dems were victims of a bloodbath at the polls, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s House was the prime-target. However, on Tuesday, the Democrats chose to keep Pelosi in power by electing her incoming minority leader.

The Republicans did the same thing, electing Rep. John Boehner of Ohio as the incoming Speaker of the House. Boehner earned the praise of his GOP colleagues with his passion and vigor in opposing President Obama and the Democrats’ health care bill. But Boehner, a House member for nearly two decades, is just more “Old Washington.”

He has a history with lobbyists, even going so far as passing out checks from lobbyists on the House floor in 1996. Our so-called “representatives” have shown us they have a chronic case of selective hearing.

I really don’t think we should be surprised, though. Congress and the presidency are on one heck of a roller coaster ride. We’ve been flip-flopping executive parties since Ronald Reagan left office, and the House and Senate are on the same roller coaster ride.

We never see the real change we all want in Washington because we never look at tangible results. We base our election decisions on pretty words and promises. Politicians always break our hearts because we hold them to their campaign promises rather than their track record.

We elect a candidate because he or she promises bipartisanship, when most of the time their track record tells another story. The only way we can elect the politicians we want is to educate ourselves and look at the true story.

Because the candidate who kisses the most babies and hugs the most senior citizens is not always the best candidate. And the candidate who promises change may just be another political heartbreaker.