After the 2008 elections and their subsequent events, the United States Senate was composed of 57 Democrats, 41 Republicans, and two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Of the above 37 seats up for election in 2010, 19 were held by Democrats (seven of whom retired or were defeated in the primary) and 18 were held by Republicans (eight of whom retired or were defeated in the primary).
As in most midterm elections, the party not controlling the White House gained ground. Republicans captured six seats from the Democrats by defeating incumbents in Arkansas and Wisconsin and winning open seats in Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania. This was the largest number of Senate gains for the party since the 1994 election and also the first time since that election that they successfully defended all of their own seats.
The 2010 Elections pretty much went as planned, with the Republicans on the winning side. I do not think that their victory was because of their ability to campaign and run ads, but with the American people frustration towards President Obama's administration. Before the 2010 Election and after the 2008 Elections Democrats had complete power in Washington. They had the majority in the House (which they lost), the majority in the Senate (which they kept) and they had control of the Presidency.
With complete control in Washington, Democrats still were unable to get much done. They only thing they got done was passing the health care reform. But is that what is really on the mind of Americans? Health care? NO!!! That is not what Americans are concerned with, and it has been proven by surveys and polls. The American people number one concern going into the election was and still is the economy. The American people want to feel secure, that they have money and that they have a job. They want to feel secure enough that they will be able to pay their bills and have food on the table. The economy is my main concern to, but these past two years Democrats with complete control have not done anything. Now, it will be a lot harder for Democrats to implement or pass policies with the Republican party victories.
Here are a few links that take you to the New York Times website. They show a complete breakdown of the Senate and the House and who won each state, and each district. The first link shows the break down of the House http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/house. You can see a lot more red states here as the Democrats lost 60 seats.
The second link shows an analysis for the Senate http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/senate. Here the Democrats keep their majority, but lost 6 seats in the process.
In the end I still believe that the Republicans victory was due to Obamas lack of getting things done. In life, if you try something and it does not work then you try something else to fix it. I think that is the approach that the voters took this time around, and that is why so many states are no colored in red.
-HR
You have to admit that President Obama's way of not getting anything done has a certain flair to it. First he puts an end to the insurance companies doing whatever they want by getting health care reform passed. Then he puts an end to Wall Street's ability to gamble with taxpayer money however they want by getting financial reform passed. He did all of this under a plausible effort of bipartisan statesmanship while corporation loving Republicans naturally fought him tooth and nail all the way. When you think about it; President Obama is the hardest working slacker we've ever seen.
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