The US Conservative Landslide

Bill Muehlenberg
3.11.10

The map of America is looking very red indeed at the moment. While splashes of blue are to be found, red is the dominant colour throughout. For the politically naive, red is the colour of the Republican tsunami which has just rolled over the United States, while blue is the colour of the decimated Democrats.

This midterm election has been a conservative landslide in many respects. Although the Senate is still in Democratic control (only just), in every other area the Republicans have taken decisive control. This is how the numbers seem to stack up (with a few seats still to be decided).

In 2008 there were 257 (out of 435) Democrats in the House of Representatives. Now there are only 191. The Republicans went from 178 to 243, a massive gain of 65 seats. That makes this the biggest election win in 70 years. Even Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois was lost to the Republicans. the rest

"The lesson of the 2010 campaign is that most Americans do not want more government in their lives, they want less. They do not want handouts from President Obama. They want him and other politicians like him off their backs and out of their wallets.”