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Obama's
Democrats lose House, hold on to Senate
Wednesday November 03, 2010 11:50:02 AM,
Arun Kumar, IANS
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Washington:
Days ahead of his visit to India, America's first black president
Barack Obama saw his Democratic party suffer a near rout in the
face of voter dissatisfaction over a recession-hit economy.
Riding the anti-establishment mood, the opposition Republicans won
majority control of the US House of Representatives in Tuesday's
midterm elections, while Democrats retained their majority in the
Senate.
With results still coming in, the extent of the Republican
takeover of the 435-member House was still to be determined. But
CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 52 more House
seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority
of the past four years.
Republican candidates also were running strong in governors'
races, while Democrats were guaranteed to hold at least 50 of the
100 Senate seats with a handful of close races still outstanding,
according to the projections based on CNN's analysis of exit poll
data.
Whatever the final make-up of the Senate, it will include no
African-American members. The only current African-American
senator, Roland Burris of Illinois, is retiring, and none of the
three African-American candidates won on Tuesday.
On the House side, Republicans picked up seats in a broad swath
across the country, including victories over one-term Democrats
who came to power in traditionally GOP districts in 2008.
Republicans needed a net gain of only three governorships Tuesday
for a majority nationally. Often overshadowed during midterm
campaigns, governorships can influence national politics by their
influence in the redistricting of state electorates.
Exit poll data analysed by CNN showed the economy was the dominant
issue on the minds of voters, and indicated that key
constituencies shifted from supporting Democrats in 2008 to voting
for Republicans this time.
One reason is likely opposition to the health care reform bill
pushed through Congress over Republican opposition by
President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders.
While Obama pledged the reforms would improve Medicare, Republican
opponents warned of service cuts and higher costs, with some
making false claims such as "death panels" in the bill that would
decide whether the elderly receive treatment.
Heated campaigning continued to the last minute Tuesday, with
Obama and former President Bill Clinton exhorting Democrats and
independents to hold off a Republican surge while Republican
candidates promised to change how Washington operates.
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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