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Republicans sweep Senate in U.S. Midterms, Barack Obama has a tough 2 years ahead

Yesterday's vote saw the Republicans seizing control of the U.S. Senate, reinforcing their majority in the House of Representatives and defeating Democrats in several races for State Governor. All of it a strong message to a President heading into a final stretch. But what is that message? Today the pundits parse the polls....
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Yesterday's vote saw the Republicans seizing control of the U.S. Senate, reinforcing their majority in the House of Representatives and defeating Democrats in several races for State Governor. All of it a strong message to a President heading into a final stretch. But what is that message? Today the pundits parse the polls.

US-midterms-mitch.jpg

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addresses supporters, accompanied by his wife, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, at his midterm election night victory rally in Louisville, Kentucky. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Mitch McConnell, the leader of the U.S. Senate Republicans and the longest serving senator in Kentucky's history, cruised to re-election yesterday. Republicans also claimed the Senate majority by ousting Democratic senators in Arkansas, Colorado and North Carolina and taking seats from retiring Democrats in four other states.

Now, the Grand Old Party controls both the Senate and House of Representatives. Health care, Ebola and the threat of ISIS were themes highlighted in the Republican campaigns. But many see these midterms as a referendum on President Barack Obama and his Presidency.

Thomas Frank is the author of Pitty the Billionaire and a

If the euphoria of the "Yes We Can" Obama Democrats was contagious 6 years ago. The Republicans appeared to find an antidote. To help us unpack what went wrong for the Democrats and what went right for the Republicans, we were joined by two people:

  • John Nichols is a political writer for The Nation a weekly politics and culture magazine in the United States. He was in Madison Wisconsin.

  • Meredith Warren is a Republican consultant and Co-founder of Lyric Consulting. She was in Cape Cod.


This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien and Josh Bloch.

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