Enter the axe man? Boehner pledges to rip up Obama's 'monstrous' health reform as Republicans celebrate landslide victory
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:31 PM on 3rd November 2010
- Democrats lose the House - but retain control of Senate
- Boehner: We have mandate to repeal Obamacare
- Sarah Palin calls results 'an earthquake'
- Harry Reid re-elected in huge boost for Democrats
- Christine O'Donnell loses her bid for Senate
Jubliant Republicans today pledged to rip up the centrepiece of President Barack Obama's reforms as they celebrated a historic victory in the mid-term elections.
John Boehner, who is poised to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, vowed to roll back the healthcare bill which he branded a 'monstrosity.'
His strident rhetoric came just hours after his party regained control of the House with a predicted gain of 60 seats - the biggest margin for 62 years.
At the helm: John Boehner said the Republicans and been given a mandate to take an axe to Barack Obama's healthcare bill
Victory: The predicted gain of 60 seats in the House of Representatives threatens of derail the policies closest to Obama's heart
Speaking to reporters, Boehner said that the landslide win gave his party a voter mandate to boot out the healthcare package.
'The American people were concerned about the government takeover of health care.' Mr Boehner said.
'I think it's important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity.'
As of 4.15am Eastern time this morning, the Republican party had netted 60 formerly Democratic seats and led in four more by early today, easily exceeding the 40 needed to gain a majority.
The Republican wins surpassed their sweep in 1994, when President Bill Clinton's Democrats lost 54 House seats, and was the biggest shift in power since Democrats lost 75 House seats in 1948.
Democrats captured only three Republican seats. They had controlled the House by a 255-178 margin, with two vacancies. All 435 seats were on the ballot.
Smiling in the face of defeat: President Barack Obama makes an election night phone call to John Boehner, who will most likely be the next House Speaker, from the Treaty Room in the White House
'I chased the American dream': Fighting back tears as he recounted his rise from humble beginnings to the presumed Speaker of the House, John Boehner addresses Republican supporters in Washington last night
IT'S NOT ME.... IT'S YOU: HOW U.S. MEDIA SEE OBAMA'S DEFEAT
After a bloodbath at the mid-term ballot box, Barack Obama today work up to trial by media.
Commentators have already laid much of the blame for the Republican avalanche on his shoulders.
'Voters... sent President Obama a loud message,' proclaimed a New York Times editorial.
'They don’t like how he’s doing his job, they’re even angrier at Congressional Democrats and they gave the House back to the Republicans.
'(Mr Obama) needs to do a much better job of stiffening the spines of his own party’s leaders.'
The Washington Post led with 'GOP Seizes Control Of The House' blaming the stalled economy for Republican gains.
'For the third election in a row, Americans kicked a political party out of power,' Karen Tumulty noted.
'So you would think that, by now, politicians in Washington would have gotten the message: They must be doing something wrong.'
Time magazine laid out how swing voters who once 'flocked to Obama' had now turned against his agenda.
David Von Drehle, however, foresees light at the end of the tunnel for the Democrats.
'As they climb from the rubble of their defeat today, they will notice that things didn't turn out quite as bad as they could have been,' he writes.
'The key building blocks of liberal election strategy — New York and California — resisted the GOP tide.
'And they will notice, no doubt, that the seeds of future squabbles were sown inside the enemy camps.'
Fox News's Dana Perino claimed America's 'trial separation' from Obama had begun.
'The passion from the first days of dating has cooled and some people can’t remember what they saw in him in the first place.
'There’s not even a courtesy thrown his way to soften the blow, as in “It’s not you, it’s me…” because it is, actually, about him – his policies, approach, tone and agenda.'
The party is to lose the House after only four years, the shortest a party has held the lower chamber since Republicans kept it for just two years from 1953-1955.
Last night the President was photographed phoning Boehner - who is set to become Speaker in January.
Obama called Boehner to say he looked forward to working with him and the Republicans 'to find common ground, move the country forward and get things done for the American people,' the White House said.
Boehner told the President he wanted to collaborate on voters' top priorities, creating jobs and cutting spending. 'That's what they expect,' the 10-term Republican said.
The House has the power to raise revenue through taxes and control spending, to impeach officials and to elect the president in case of a deadlock. It can also hold hearings and investigations - a cudgel that could be used to stymie the Obama administration.
'The ability of this administration to get major new programs done was already limited. This just seals the deal,' said Jaret Seiberg, policy analyst with the investment advisory firm Washington Research Group.
But all was not entirely lost as CNN projected Mr Obama's party will keep control of the Senate.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid won the country's most high-profile Senate race after a brutal battle with Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle in Nevada. He said he was determined to renew the struggle to create jobs and bolster the economy.
'The bell that just rang isn't the end of the fight. It's the start of the next round,' Reid told jubilant supporters in Nevada.
Democrats also won key Senate races in West Virginia and California, where Senator Barbara Boxer won re-election, ensuring they would retain at least a slender Senate majority.
Senate Republicans gained six seats and the re-election bids of two other Democratic incumbents - Michael Bennet in Colorado and Patty Murray in Washington - were too close to call.
Speaking on Fox last night in reaction to the House projection, Sarah Palin said: 'That's an earthquake.'
Sixty is huge,' she added. 'It really isn’t a surprise though I think to so many who have been tracking closely the mood, the sentiment of the American public.
'To me that’s an earthquake. It is a huge message sent. It is a shakeup and then we’re going to see some of the shakeup in the Senate too.
'It is a big darn deal,' Palin added. 'There is a lot of disenchantment and some disenfranchisement that the American public feels when we’re trying to relate to what government is doing to our country right now. So it’s a big deal to see this shakeup to see this turnaround.'
The power switch will mean that Nancy Pelosi's reign as America's first woman House Speaker is over.
She will be replaced by Boehner when Congress reconvenes after the election.
'The outcome of the election does not diminish the work we have done for the American people,' Pelosi said.
'We must all strive to find common ground to support the middle class, create jobs, reduce the deficit and move our nation forward.'
Boehner was overcome with emotion as he celebrated the Republican victory.
He had to pause to gather himself and choke back tears as he told how he 'lived the American dream.'
He said the American people have sent 'an unmistakable message' to President Obama.
'And that message is - change course,' he said.
'We hope that President Obama will respect the will of the people and change course and commit to making changes that they are demanding.
'To the extent that he is willing to do that, we are willing to work with him. But make no mistake, the President will find in our new majority the voice of the American people as it expressed it tonight.
'It is clear tonight who the winners really are and that's the American people,' he said to cheering supporters.
'This is not a time for celebration, not when one out of ten of our children is out of work, not when we have buried our children in a ton of debt.
Democratic joy: Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., does a cartwheel at a post-election party in Denver after he was re-elected last night
Republicans on the rampage: Tammy Tideman of Mesa, Arizona and Carla Schwarte of Phoenix, Arizona hold 'Fire Pelosi' sign as Senator John McCain speaks to the crowd following his election victory
Tea Party disappointment: Christine O'Donnell, flanked by her family, speaks to her supporters after losing to Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware. Coons will take over Vice President Joe Biden's old U.S. Senate seat
'This is an earthquake': Sarah Palin campaigns for Joe Miller in Anchorage earlier on Tuesday
'Across the country right now we are witnessing a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the American people.
'For far too long, Washington has been doing what's right for Washington and not what's right for the American people.
'With their voices the American people are looking for a new way forward,' he added.
The Republican tide was being led by right wing conservative Tea Party candidates in what was being seen as a protest vote against Obama’s failure to cure the nation’s economic ills.
Tea Party favourite Rand Paul scored the first big victory of the night in Kentucky where he beat his Democrat Senate rival by a handy margin.
Mr Paul, son of former presidential candidate Ron Paul, beat Democrat Jack Conway after one of the ugliest campaigns in the country. Democrats once hoped to have a shot at that seat, arguing that Paul was too far out of the U.S. political mainstream.
'I have a message from the people of Kentucky... We've come to take our government back,' he told a cheering crowd in a victory speech.
Sarah Palin described Paul as 'basically a representative of the Tea Party movement. Those who are saying smaller, smarter government, kind of a libertarian bent even with Rand Paul and what he represents.
Time to party: Supporters of Republican Senator Marco Rubio celebrate after he won in Florida
The results: As of 4am Eastern time
Forced smiles: Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, left, and DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen, right, during an Election Results Watch Reception in Washington tonight
'It’s a good indication too of that message being sent and being received by the electorate,' she added.
SPEAKER-ELECT JOHN BOEHNHER BREAKS DOWN AS HE CELEBRATES VICTORY
The next Speaker of the House of Representatives broke down as he celebrated a historic Republican victory in the U.S. mid-terms.
John Boehner choked back tears as he told how he had ‘lived the American dream’
President Barack Obama has already called the Speaker elect to congratulate him on winning control of the House.
And the 60-year-old struck a remarkably conciliatory tone on a night when Barack Obama’s Democrats were pummelled at the polls
While acknowledging the American people had sent an ‘unmistakeable message’ to the President, the 10-term Congressman said that it was now time to get to work.
'This is not a time for celebration, not when one out of ten of our children is out of work, not when we have buried our children in a ton of debt,' he said.
'We hope that President Obama will respect the will of the people and change course and commit to making changes that they are demanding.
‘To the extent that he is willing to do that, we are willing to work with him.
The Republican landslide forces out 70-year-old Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be Speaker of the House.
In her four-year term, she has become a divisive figure in Congress and she has been the subject of caustic attacks by Republicans.
Voters have not warmed to her either - a recent poll found 64 per cent of the public disliked her as speaker and 47 percent strongly disliked her whilst only 29 percent had a favourable opinion.
The fledgling Tea Party movement also nabbed wins in Indiana and South Carolina.
But one of the most high-profile Tea Party candidates, Christine O’Donnell – who grabbed the headlines when she revealed she once dabbled in witchcraft – lost out in her bid to capture Vice President Joe Biden's old seat in Delaware to Democrat Chris Coons.
Palin said Christine O’Donnell’s defeat was not surprising.
'Christine’s defeat, of course in a deep blue state it’s not really a surprise, disappointing for those who really wanted to shake it up in that state though.
'There was never any guarantee that a hardcore conservative would win in a deep blue state like Delaware.'
'Maybe it is a message from the American public,' Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said late Tuesday, well before the election was over.
'We've got a Democrat in the White House. We'll have a majority Republican governors. We'll have a Democratic Senate, Republican House...
'Everybody's got to work together.'
The Republicans defeated three dozen Democrats in districts won by Republican Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign. Democrats went deep into Republican territory to win scores of seats that year, only to see Republicans win many back this election.
One seat was lost by freshman Democrat Rep Tom Perriello of Virginia, who supported Obama's agenda and for whom the president campaigned last Friday.
Republicans did well in several industrial states that make up the so-called Rust Belt, racking up two wins in Indiana, five each in Ohio and Pennsylvania, three in Illinois, and two in Michigan - all states that Obama managed to win in 2008.
The party broke House Democrats' monopolies in New York City and the New England region, winning a seat on Staten Island and in New Hampshire.
A handful of Democrats heavily targeted by the Republicans pulled through in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
Republican Rep. Ahn 'Joseph' Cao in New Orleans, the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress, lost after his first term.
But the few victories were overwhelmed by the Democrats who lost, including some considered safe just weeks ago.
First-termers were beaten in key races as were some of the party's old veterans. Some Democrats who stressed their independence from their party also went down to defeat.
Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a military expert, lost after more than 30 years in Congress.
House candidates and party committees raised and spent tons of campaign cash, and Democrats had a slight edge.
But Republican-allied outside groups skewed the playing field dramatically. They spent $189.5 million savaging Democratic candidates while independent groups skewering Republicans spent $89 million.
The results began rolling in last night as Obama played the family card in a desperate attempt to avoid a shattering defeat.
Picture postcard scene: Jamey Stehn leaves the Hope Social Hall in Hope, Alaska, after casting his vote
Turnout: Voters visit a polling station at Mount Bethel Baptist Church on Rhode Island Avenue, Washington,
Trying to soften up an image widely seen as remote and dispassionate, the U.S. President went on a youth-oriented radio show to talk about his daughters.
He told Ryan Seacrest, the host of American Idol, that the girls – Malia, 12 and Sasha, 9 – lived in a ‘world of normalcy’.
Obama also revealed in the radio interview that his children had been out trick-or-treating on Halloween, saying: ‘Malia dressed up as a Sour Patch girl and Sasha was a turkey, and they were both pretty adorable.’
His use of such an unlikely media outlet in the face of such a serious situation raised eyebrows.
MEG WHITMAN'S $142MILLION LOSS
Former eBay boss Meg Whitman paid a heavy price for her losing bid to become California's governor - $142million.
That's how much billionaire Whitman, pictured below in tears after her loss last night, spent on her unsuccessful bid to succeed Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor's mansion in Sacramento.
It was the moist any self-funded candidate has even spent on a U.S. election campaign.
But it counted for nothing as she was beaten by Democrat former California Governor Jerry Brown, who succeeded in his attempt to take charge of the cash-challenged state again.
Whitman's big budget bid was hampered by a scandal over her hiring of an illegal immigrant housekeeper and her admission that she didn't vote for 28 years.
Brown, 72, will now be returning to the office he last held 28 years ago. The state attorney general was California's 34th governor during his previous tenure between 1975 to 1983 and now becomes its 39th.
Asked by Mr Seacrest if he was getting much sleep, President Obama admitted: ‘Not much lately.’
IN DELAWARE:
Democrat Chris Coons easily won Delaware's Senate race over Republican Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party backed candidate who struggled to shake old television footage in which she spoke out against masturbation and talked about dabbling in witchcraft.
Last night O'Donnell vowed she will not stop fighting.
'The outcome isn't what we worked so hard for but our voice was heard,' she told a party of supporters.
The leadership in Delaware, she added, will now be 'decidedly different'.
'We've got a lot of food and the room all night,' she added cheerfully. 'So let's party!'
O'Donnell's upset win in the Republican primary over moderate congressman Mike Castle likely cost Republicans the contest. Castle, a popular former governor, had been heavily favored to win Vice President Joe Biden's old seat.
Coons is a wealthy attorney and the stepson of the founder of the company that developed Gore-Tex fabrics. He is the executive of the state's largest county and mostly supports the Obama administration's agenda.
IN KENTUCKY:
A Republican backed by the ultraconservative Tea Party movement, Rand Paul, won in Kentucky. Democrats once hoped to have a shot at that seat, arguing that Paul was too far out of the U.S. political mainstream.
With little chance of much consensus politics in the final two years of the Obama presidential term, a heavy Republican victory in Congress is likely to lead to legislative gridlock, a hardening of U.S. foreign policy and the demise of plans to tackle global warming.
IN CALIFORNIA:
Exit polls are predicting that Jerry Brown will succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as the next Governor, beating out eBay's Meg Whitman.
Whitman paid a heavy price for her losing bid to become California's governor - $142million.
It was the moist any self-funded candidate has even spent on a U.S. election campaign.
Brown, 72, will now be returning to the office he last held 28 years ago. The state attorney general was California's 34th governor during his previous tenure between 1975 to 1983 and now becomes its 39th.
Meanwhile Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer was set to hold on to her seat, defeating Sarah Palin-backed Carly Fiorina.
IN NEVADA:
Harry Reid has retained his seat against Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle in a huge boost for the Democrats.
Last night he said the battle against Angle was the hardest fight of his life - but that it still was not as hard as the fight every day Nevadans faced in the current economy.
'Today Nevadans chose hope over fear,' he told cheering supporters.
IN MASSACHUSETTS:
Rep. Barney Frank, a favorite target of conservatives, is going back to Washington for a 16th term after beating back one of the toughest re-election campaigns of his nearly three decades in the House of Representatives.
Voters in Massachusetts rejected a Republican challenge from political newcomer Sean Bielat.
Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, had emerged as one of Congress' most powerful Democrats while shepherding both the Wall Street overhaul bill and one of the nation's most sweeping financial regulatory bills through the House.
That role helped make the 70-year-old a lightning rod for conservatives. Republicans gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bielat, a 35-year-old businessman and former U.S. Marine.
Massachusetts Governor and Barack Obama's friend Deval Patrick has bucked the anti-incumbent trend and won a second term.
With 67 per cent of precincts reporting, the Democrat had 49 per cent to Republican challenger Charles Baker's 41 per cent. Independent candidate Timothy Cahill placed third with 8 per cent, while Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein was a distant fourth.
Patrick benefited from the unusual four-way race, especially with Cahill's candidacy.
The Republican Governors Association sought a trophy win by knocking off the president's fellow Chicagoan and Harvard Law alumnus. But it failed despite spending millions on anti-Patrick ads.
IN FLORIDA:
Marco Rubio of Florida rocked the Republican establishment last spring by routing a leadership favorite in party primaries.
The son of Cuban immigrants then beat back Democrats' efforts to paint him as too extreme.
Tonight he accepted a phone call from Democrat Charlie Crist conceding defeat in the state's Senate elections.
In a victory speech he called the feeling 'indescribable'.
'Our nation is headed in wrong direction and both parties are too blame,' he added.
The gubernatorial race in Florida is still too close to call this morning.
IN WEST VIRGINIA:
Governor Joe Manchin has kept West Virginia's U.S. Senate seat in the hands of the Democratic Party.
The popular governor won the special election for the late Senator Robert C Byrd's seat, despite Republican efforts to paint him as a rubber stamp for the policies of President Barack Obama.
Senator Barbara Boxer plays with her granddaughter Reyna, 18 months, as they watch vote returns in her hotel suite in Los Angeles tonight. Boxer is battling for her California seat tonight
The President's popularity, and that of his policies, has been on the decline as the economy continues to sputter.
Byrd died in June at age 92. Manchin will serve the final two years of his term.
Morgantown millionaire John Raese had hoped issues such as Obama's environmental polices involving coal and federal health care legislation would make him the first Republican to represent West Virginia in the Senate in more than 50 years.
IN ALABAMA:
Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama has won a fifth term in the Senate, easily defeating Democratic newcomer William Barnes.
Needing all the help they can get: Sloan Atkins, 6, left, helps her mother, Coleen Atkins, as her sister Reese Atkins, 4, helps their father Anthony Oliva, right, fill out their ballots in Miami today
Shelby hasn't faced a serious re-election threat since he first won the seat in 1986, and this year was no different. Based on an Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll data, Shelby won easily Tuesday.
The conservative from Tuscaloosa is a persistent critic of President Barack Obama, and he's now poised to gain additional power in the new Congress.
Shelby was the ranking Republican on an appropriations subcommittee while Democrats were in control of the Senate.
The 76-year-old Shelby is a former Democrat who jumped to the Republicans when it gained control of Congress in 1994.
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