But Mr. Valliere and other Washington analysts are already looking to the next opportunity for gridlock, the debt ceiling the country is expected to hit early next year.
In other words, if the theme of the past 16 months was large change, the theme of the next period will be gridlock and government's apparent impotence in the face of growing problems.
After a year that's been miserable for him politically — the botched health-care rollout, N.S.A. revelations, Congressional gridlock — the next twelve months will help to define his legacy.
Steven Olikara is the co-founder and president of theMillennial Action Project, a national organization dedicated to overcoming political gridlock through next generation, post-partisan leadership.
"We need actually to get everyone in a room and work together," he says; mindful that local voters, like other Americans, are furious about Washington gridlock.In the next breath, Mr Brown bashes Mr Obama.
And part of the job of the next president is to break the gridlock and to get Democrats and independents and Republicans to start working together to solve these big problems".
Next time you are stuck in gridlock, imagine that in a parallel universe far, far away there is an unfortunate stormtrooper who is just as passionate laying on the horn of his starfighter.
True, they are still arguing in Congress about spending for the next financial year, with the prospect of gridlock again.
Watching him was a semi-cheering experience.The bad news is that the senator is mostly betting that Washington gridlock will ease after the next presidential election in 2016, whoever wins the White House.
A deal delivering a £1bn investment over the next 10 years to clear Preston's gridlock has been signed by the government and three councils.
