GOP Fever

.
...No, I mean "Fever," really, as in ill, sick, burning fever into madness,,,!! This is our real Halloween! Be afraid, be very Afraid!

I cried all night and when I went to sleep I had some horrendous nightmares.

I'm just waiting for the first republican to make a fool of himself or herself; it could happen as soon as today. No kidding...

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Boehner says Obama health plan on the block after GOP winsBy the CNN Wire Staff

November 3, 2010 -- 1:53 p.m. EDT


Watch CNN live on TV, online and on your iPhone to get all the news and results from the hotly contested 2010 midterm elections. And share your election experiences with CNN iReport.

Washington (CNN) -- Voters have given Republicans a mandate to cut government and roll back the Obama administration's health care "monstrosity" in the next Congress, the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives said Thursday.

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is poised to lead the House following the GOP's massive gains in Tuesday's midterm elections. He told reporters that he and President Barack Obama have agreed to work together but called the results a vote for "a smaller, less costly, more accountable government." And the administration's hard-won overhaul of the U.S. health care system ultimately will be on the block.

"The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care," Boehner said. "I think it's important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with common-sense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance in America."

The health care law, parts of which are just taking effect, requires Americans to buy health insurance, provides subsidies to bring down the cost of those policies and bars insurers from denying coverage based on gender or pre-existing conditions.

Republicans opposed the health care bill nearly unanimously, opposing its nearly trillion-dollar price tag and calling it an excessive intrusion of government into the free market. Supporters noted that it would expand coverage to most Americans under private insurance, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would bring down long-term budget deficits by trimming the projected costs of health care.

Republicans needed to win an additional 39 House seats to reclaim the majority they lost in 2006. They claimed at least 60 on Tuesday, according to a CNN analysis of exit poll data, in what is likely to be the biggest House gain by any major party since 1948. In addition, they won at least six more seats in the Senate, but Democrats will retain control of the chamber.

Democrats were battered by an economy that is still struggling to create jobs, with unemployment lingering at nearly 10 percent, an energized conservative electorate fueled by the anti-establishment Tea Party movement that emerged in 2009. Exit polling showed voter dissatisfaction with both parties, as each received a 53 percent unfavorable rating.

Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, said Republicans were humbled by the opportunity for "a second chance" at power.

"I heard that all across the country, people saying, you know, 'you guys better not screw this up, because you're next on the list if you do,' " Steele said.

Obama called both Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, late Tuesday to offer his congratulations. On Wednesday, he called for unity and an "honest and civil debate."

"What yesterday also told us is that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here, that we must find common ground in order to make progress on some uncommonly difficult challenges," the president said.

But McConnell, who led repeated filibusters of Obama administration efforts in the Senate over the past two years, told reporters that voters were rewarding GOP opposition.

"It seems to me the best strategy for the other side would be to listen to the voters yesterday," he said. "They made a clear statement about what they'd like to see done. If the president comes in our direction, obviously we want to make progress for the country over the next two years."

And Andrew Card, who was White House chief of staff under former President George W. Bush, said it was Obama's obligation to work with Republicans.

"It's President Obama's responsibility to take the wake-up call that came yesterday," Card told CNN's "American Morning."

The rise of the Tea Party movement added a new element to the election cycle, roiling Republican races by boosting little-known and inexperienced candidates to victory over mainstream figures in GOP primaries across the country.

"I don't think there's any question that if it were not for the Tea Party, the Republican margin in the House of Representatives would not be as high as it's going to be," CNN senior political analyst David Gergen said Tuesday night. "They gave a lot of enthusiasm and fuel to the Republican Party."

Tea Party-backed Republicans Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida won their Senate races, according to the projections.

Republican candidates were also strong in governors' races, with at least 10 gubernatorial seats switching from Democrats to Republicans, CNN projected. Often overshadowed during midterm campaigns, governorships can affect national politics by their influence in the redistricting of state electorates.

Conservative candidates also made strong gains in state legislatures. The Republican State Leadership Committee estimated that at least 16 state legislative chambers had moved from Democratic to Republican control in Tuesday's voting.

Those changes have the potential to reverberate far beyond the state level: By seizing control of legislative chambers in several key states, the GOP significantly strengthened its hand heading into what promises to be contentious congressional redistricting process, where legislatures decide how congressional districts are drawn. That can mean the difference between an incumbent having an easy path to re-election -- or seeing his or her district drawn out of existence altogether.

The long and bitter campaign season drew more than $3.5 billion in spending, making it the most expensive nonpresidential vote ever, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.

About 75 percent of Americans say things are going badly in the country, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday.

The economy was rated the most important issue by 62 percent of voters, far eclipsing health care reform (19 percent), immigration (8 percent) and the war in Afghanistan (7 percent), according to the exit polling.

Most voters, 88 percent, rated economic conditions as not good or poor, and 86 percent said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the economy, the exit polling showed.

Unemployment, at a rate of 9.6 percent amid a slow recovery from economic recession, has been a dominant issue, with Republicans accusing Obama and the Democrats of pushing through expensive policies that have expanded government without solving the problem.

Obama has led Democrats in defending his record, saying that steps such as the economic stimulus bill and auto industry bailout were necessary to prevent a depression, while health care reform and Wall Street reform will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth.

CNN's Tom Cohen, Michael Pearson, Dana Bash, Ed Henry, Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh, Paul Steinhauser, Rebecca Sinderbrand, Jessica Yellin, Alan Silverleib, Holly Yan, Forrest Brown, Catherine E. Shoichet, Rebecca Stewart and Jonathan Auerbach contributed to this report.