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Republicans Take Congress – With Video



Nov 2, 2010 3 Comments ›› Pat Dollard

Fox News:

In a victory of historic proportions, Republicans will win the U.S. House of Representatives with a net gain of about 60 seats, Fox News
projects.

The gains would exceed those made during the Republican wave of 1994, when the party picked up 54 House seats. In House races from Florida to Virginia to Indiana, voters were sending a rebuke to the Democratic Party by electing Republicans over Democratic incumbents.

The power shift means House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, portrayed as somewhat of a political bogeyman by GOP candidates throughout the campaign, will lose her post and likely be succeeded by Minority Leader John Boehner.

Republicans were also off to a strong start on the Senate side, picking up three Senate seats from Democrats and holding down a number of others — giving no ground as they look for big gains Tuesday night.

“What we’re sensing tonight is a huge case of buyer’s remorse all across America,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told supporters Tuesday night, describing GOP gains as a rejection of the spending and “Washington takeovers” coming out of the federal government.

The latest victory came in North Dakota, where Republican John Hoeven beat Tracy Potter for the seat held by outgoing Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan. In Arkansas, GOP Rep. John Boozman earlier trounced Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln, denying her a third term in Congress. Lincoln’s vote for the president’s health care overhaul was considered a turning point for the senator’s popularity.

Republicans also won open Senate seats in Florida, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Former Sen. Dan Coats in Indiana scored the first GOP Senate pick-up of the night, beating Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth for the seat left by retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. The other open seats were already held by Republicans, so those GOP wins do not change the balance of power.

In the dramatic three-way race for an open Senate seat in Florida, Tea Party-backed Republican Marco Rubio beat his two opponents. He was running against Gov. Charlie Crist, who left the GOP to run as an independent, and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

Democrats have scored three key victories for open seats. In West Virginia, Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin beat John Raese despite an aggressive campaign by the Republican to portray Manchin as a buddy to Washington Democrats. In Delaware, Chris Coons beat Tea Party-backed Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell; in Connecticut, popular Attorney General Dick Blumenthal beat professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon. All those open seats were previously held by longtime Democratic lawmakers. The Delaware seat used to be held by Vice President Biden, the Connecticut seat held by Chris Dodd and the West Virginia seat held by the late Robert Byrd.

In Kansas, Republican Jerry Moran won the seat held by Sam Brownback, a Republican who won his race for governor against Tom Holland. In Ohio, Republican Rob Portman, an ex-congressman and former White House budget director, has beaten Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. In Kentucky, Tea Party-backed Rand Paul beat state Attorney General Jack Conway after a bitter contest that delved into Paul’s religion and made for some tense debates. Paul, who is leading 56-44 percent in early returns, won despite a last-minute visit by former President Bill Clinton for Conway.

Republican Kelly Ayote will succeed GOP Sen. Judd Gregg in New Hampshire, and Republican Rep. Roy Blunt will succeed GOP Sen. Kit Bond in Missouri.

Republicans needed just 39 pickups to win the House; they still would need 10 pickups to seize a majority in the Senate.So far, Republican candidates have officially won 86 seats in the House, while Democrats have won 46.

Among the victories, Republican Dan Webster defeated outspoken liberal Rep. Alan Grayson in Florida’s 8th District. Republican Sandra Adams picked up a Democratic seat in Florida’s 24th District; Republican Robert Hurt did the same in Virginia’s 5th, defeating Rep. Tom Perriello who boldly campaigned with the president. Republican Larry Bucshon picked up Ellsworth’s Democratic seat in Indiana, where Democratic Rep. Baron Hill was also defeated by a wide margin.

On the other side, Democrat John Carney picked up the Republican House seat in Delaware formerly held by Rep. Mike Castle, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stayed optimistic throughout, touting the party’s get-out-the-vote effort at a Democratic event in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night.

“We have taken the country in a new direction. We are not going back to the failed policies of the past,” she said.

• RESULTS MAP: Explore the current party divide, and the polling numbers for the closest races
• TRACK KEY RACES: Track and follow up to 10 races.
• CANDIDATE LIST: All you need to know about the candidates

But with the strength of the Tea Party movement at their backs, GOP candidates were hoping the enthusiasm of their supporters would help propel them to historic pickups in Congress and give them the leverage to put a check on the Obama administration’s policies.

Though Democrats barnstormed into Congress in huge numbers over the past two cycles — helped in no small part by President Obama’s historic presidential run in 2008 — frustration over the economy and far-reaching legislation passed under the current administration have fueled a crop of candidates vowing to bring a renewed model of small-government conservatism to Washington.

The most visible and vocal driver of that political breed has been the Tea Party, which aggravated several GOP primary contests by backing non-establishment candidates who, in many cases, won. Election night stands as a test of that movement’s strength.

Paul heralded his victory in Kentucky Tuesday as a sign of the Tea Party’s vigor.

“We’ve come to take our government back,” he declared in his victory speech. “Tonight there’s a Tea Party tidal wave and we’re sending a message to them.”

But while the Obama administration rejects the description of Election Day as a referendum on the president’s policies, Republican candidates said Tuesday night’s returns would have everything to do with Obama.

Many of their candidates ran as much against Obama and the Democratic leaders in Congress as they did against their own opponents. Across the country, Republican nominees cast their Democratic foes as tools of the Obama administration, while Democrats returned fire by casting Republicans — particularly those backed by the Tea Party — as extreme.

Republican leaders have warned that victories on Tuesday do not necessarily translate to a mandate, and that they’ll have to follow through on their promises to cut spending and rein in government to gain the voters’ trust.

Elsewhere, Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy easily won his reelection race, as did South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who faced off against Democrat Alvin Greene, an unemployed unknown who won his party’s primary without campaigning. Veteran Democratic Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski and New York Sen. Charles Schumer won their reelection races, as did Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr, Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune and Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. Freshman Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also won her race.

Thirty-seven governor’s seats are also on the line Tuesday.

Republicans scored a pickup in Tennessee with a victory by Bill Haslam. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will keep his state’s governor’s seat in Democratic hands, beating Republican Carl Paladino. Republican Gov. Rick Perry also won his race for reelection.

The race for governor in South Carolina is too close to call, with Republican Nikki Haley competing against Democrat Vincent Sheheen. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is also in a tight race against Republican John Kasich.


  • infidoll

    About damn time. Democrats – they’re good for being creative, artsy-fartsy, writing songs, making movies, but they can’t run a country. Watching them try to posture as lawmakers the last few years has been about as uncomfortable as watching a nun pretend to be a whore.

  • David

    Boehner? NO!!! We need new blood like Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor or Michelle Bachmann. Boehner is part of the problem. If he is speaker, we will lose in 2012.

  • http://www.groganbooks.com Leander Grogan

    On September 11th, as the twin Towers came tumbling down, we watch the end of an era. The world would never be the same again, and we all realize we couldn’t go back. Never in our lifetime could we have imagined such an abrupt, pivotal step toward anarchy. But there it was, unfolding before our very eyes.

    On the night of November 2, 2010, watching the election returns come in, some of us realized we were witnessing still another historical, irreversible game-changing event; the setting of the sun on a desperate, lingering whisper-of-hope that America could once again be united, and that the current system of democracy would prove worthy to continue as is. Instead, the loud, poisonous voices of disunity prevail, the superiority of negativity reinstated itself, and the current system of government echo its feeble confessions that the 230 year old tried-and-true processes that once made us a great nation were no longer sufficient to lead us into the future.
    As a young political consultant in Texas, I had the rare opportunity to work with some of the political legends: Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, Jesse Jackson (Campaign ’88). One of my first lessons was the importance of getting out the base. Mickey Leland explained it this way (curse-words excluded):
    You go into an election with the assumption you’ve got 40% of the vote, your opponent’s got 40% of the vote, and there’s 20% independent and undecided. In most cases, the winner is going to be the candidate that’s able to get his 40% based out. The middle 20% will split evenly, and no one on the other side is suddenly going to have warm and fuzzy feeling for you because you’re helping senior citizens and feeding hungry children and fighting for the working class. Forget about taking positions that they like. And don’t piss off your base by trying to appease the middle. “The #$@*&F that’s got are gonna vote for the #$@*&F that help them keep.”
    What was so amazing about this election was the people that don’t got (the struggling, out-of-work, underpaid members of the diminishing middle class) voted with the people that do got (Republican rich) … or didn’t vote at all (apathetic “never had”).
    The independents and middle-classers were supposedly sending President Obama a message. Here was the message: We don’t like your big government policies or the direction you’re taking the country. We’re sending more “no” candidates to stop you.

    Amazing is the word that keeps coming to mind. Conservative George Bush saw the absolutely real and scary prospect of the entire economy going over the cliff. So he reluctantly instituted the bailouts. President Obama continued them, but ended up being blamed for the huge deficits that resulted. He added to the deficit with Roosevelt-type interventions trying to stop the slide. But he’s being blamed for a failed administration that couldn’t fix 30 years of problems in 18 months. And to make sure he can’t fix them, voters are sending more “no” votes to Congress.

    There is a worst case scenario. President Obama has to make a major speech after the election, probably in the next 48 hours. Understanding his convictions, there is the possibility he might come out and say:
    “Many of you were out of work and hurting, so I extended the unemployment benefits. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no. Many of you were victimize by Wall Street fraud and Bernie Madoff type schemes. I pushed a financial overhaul bill through Congress. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no. Many of you were being ripped off by the banks and other lending institutions with high interest rates and fees on top of fees. I pushed through legislation to stop the banks from taking advantage of you. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no. I saved thousands of jobs for teachers, firemen, and policeman. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no, saying these were not real jobs. After 70 years of trying to get healthcare reform that would protect the sick and under- privilege from being abused by the large insurance companies, my administration, against impossible odds, finally pushed a healthcare bill through. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no, file multiple lawsuits against it, and vowed to repeal the law if ever they regained power. I created a massive infrastructure rebuilding program to make sure these jobs could not be sent overseas. I also cancelled tax incentives that rewarded corporations sending jobs overseas. Although they couldn’t stop it, the Republicans voted no and said government had become intrusive and had overstepped its bounds. They said we just needed to leave the market alone … the same market that was headed over a cliff only a few months ago.

    Now, you’re sending more “no” people?

    The results of this election indicate you agree with the Republicans and the policies of the past. I cannot in good conscience leads you down this retroactive, self-destructive trail. Therefore, effective January 1st I am resigning my office and joining my colleagues who were booted out for having the courage to vote for what they knew was right for this country. In the end we will get the leadership we deserve.”

    That would be my speech. I suppose that’s why I’m not President.
    My guess is President Obama won’t do this. He’ll just veto all the crazy “restore the rich”, lobby-driven legislation that reaches his desk. There’ll be more gridlock and nothing will get done until the actual rules of governing change. You really don’t want to know about the quasi-oligarchic aggregator systems that will eventually have to be put in place to get things done. Be very afraid.
    For now, pray for a beleaguered President. Hope that he doesn’t do what I would do … shake the dust. The world is in awe and admiration of his courage and determination. But a prophet is not honored in his own town.

    Leander Jackie Grogan