The Republican party took control of the Senate for the first time since 2007 on Tuesday night, taking at least seven seats from the Democrats in mid-term elections in which voters showed their frustration with US President Barack Obama’s party.
So far the Republicans have picked up Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. Final figures are not in yet, but so far Republicans have an advantage in the Senate (52-45), House (239-174) and gubernatorial elections (31-15).
Obama showed his disappointment on Tuesday night, speaking on a Hartford radio show where he admitted “this is probably the worst possible group of states for Democrats since Dwight Eisenhower.”
The comment refers to a time when Democrats took power from Eisenhower’s Republican party during his second mid-term elections in 1958, in which Democrats took 13 seats and won two seats in the newly admitted state of Alaska.
“There are a lot of states that are being contested where they just tend to tilt Republican, and Democrats are competitive, but they tend to tilt that way,” said the president, who will be a “lame duck” until presidential elections in 2016.
Speaking of the close gubernatorial races, Obama also admitted “that probably speaks to the fact that voters are generally frustrated with government. They know things have gotten better from where they were six years ago, but they don’t see the kind of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans they’d like to see. The polarization has gotten worse.”
“Tired of being dictated to”
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been Senate minority leader since 2007, but now is poised to become the next Senate majority leader after winning in Kentucky again.
“For too long, this administration has tried to tell the American people what is good for them and then blame somebody else when their policies didn’t work out,” stated McConnell in a victory speech.
He will be replacing Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who half acknowledged the accusations of Democratic strong-arming when he said “the message from voters is clear: they want us to work together. I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class.”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he is “humbled by the responsibility the American people have placed with us. But this is not a time for celebration. It’s time for government to start getting results and implementing solutions to the challenges facing our country, starting with our still-struggling economy.”
Speaking about the reason for the overwhelming Republican victory, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) noted the results were first and foremost a backlash against Obama’s failed policies.
“Our party did better with its operation and it had better candidates, but this election was about what was occurring in the country and the world,” said Boozman. “People are concerned about the Middle East, they’re worried about what’s happening at home. That created this atmosphere for Republicans.”
Regarding the Middle East, Ret. Amb. Yoram Ettinger spoke to Arutz Sheva on Tuesday ahead of the elections, and appraised that a Republican victory would be a boon for Israel, particularly in terms of stopping Iran’s nuclear program and American funding of the Palestinian Authority.
