National political balance shifts right
By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times
Republicans seized control of the House on Tuesday and shrank the Democratic advantage in the Senate, dealing a major setback to President Obama and sweeping a number of “tea party” insurgents into power.
The nearly coast-to-coast blowout — a result of voters’ frustration and deep economic anxiety, promised to once more change the country’s political dynamic, presenting challenges to both parties in a newly divided government.
Obama, who pushed through the most expansive legislative agenda of any president in generations, could spend the remainder of his term just trying to preserve what he has accomplished. Republicans, with a measure of power, will share some responsibility for governing and may have to do more than simply thwart the president and his fellow Democrats — or face a similar repudiation by voters in 2012.