News desk :The Republicans have won control of the Senate in the US mid-term elections, increasing their power in the final two years of Barack Obama’s presidency.The Republicans also increased their grip on the House of Representatives and now control both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2006 in a stinging set back for Obama limiting his legislative agenda and forcing him to make a course correction for his last two years in the office.Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said the result was a vote against “a government people can no longer trust”.Obama is to hold a press conference later on Wednesday.He has already invited congressional leaders from both parties to the White House for talks on Friday.Obama reportedly tried to call McConnell as the results came in, but the two did not speak and the president left a message. About one-third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, 36 of 50 state governors, and numerous state and local offices were up for election. Throughout the campaign, Republicans focused on voter dissatisfaction with Obama, a Democrat, describing the vote as a referendum on his presidency.As the first results came in late on Tuesday, it became clear they had made the six gains they needed to win control of the Senate. The Republicans won in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. The party now controls 52 seats, and is tipped to win at least one more as votes are counted in other states.Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky, 4 Nov McConnell defeated the challenge of Alison Lundergan Grimes in KentuckyThe Republicans are also projected to increase their majority in the House of Representatives to levels not seen since before World War Two. They also made gains among the 36 governorships up for re-election. Barack Obama’s unpopularity in the run-up to these mid-term elections is hard to exaggerate. One of the things that is lost in the big picture of the night is some of the sidebar poll findings – the American people are fed up with all their politicians. It’s not just the occupant of the White House, though as Harry Truman most famously noted, the buck stops with the president.Mitch McConnell will be conscious of that, and will know that in two years’ time, when it is not just the Senate but the presidency in play, the American people could be venting their spleen on him. Be fearful of the blame game.That leaves the Kentucky senator with some important tactical decisions to make. The Republicans will now have the power to complicate, if not block completely, Obama’s agenda in the last two years of his tenure in the White House.Control of the Senate will also enable the Republicans to stymie his ability to name new federal judges, cabinet members and senior government officials.In addition to seats the party won from the Democrats, the Republicans retained seats in at least a dozen other states.McConnell will now become the Senate majority leader, giving him control over the chamber’s legislative agenda and floor proceedings. He said in his victory speech: “I don’t expect the president to wake up tomorrow and view the world any differently than he did when he woke up this morning. He knows I won’t either.”But we do have an obligation to work together on issues where we can agree.” “The message from voters is clear – they want us to work together,” said Reid of Nevada, whose role in the soon-to-be Democratic minority remains uncertain. “I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class.”
