Top Items:
Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
A Republican Wave Sweeps the Midterm Elections — In an echo of 2010, the GOP overshot its targets, taking the Senate and winning House and statehouse races across the board. Now what will they do? — LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Republicans took the Senate majority in a commanding sweep on Tuesday …
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Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Meet The Real Next Senate Majority Leader: Ted Cruz — If you thought House Speaker John Boehner has had a miserable time trying to govern, wait until you see what incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is about to deal with. — The Kentucky Republican achieved his lifelong dream …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Jay Newton-Small / TIME:
McConnell: No Shutdowns, No Full Obamacare Repeal — An exclusive interview with TIME about his plans as Majority Leader — Sen. Mitch McConnell was giddy, not an emotion often seen in the sober 72-year-old Kentuckian. But that's the only way to describe TIME's interview with him in Perry County, Kentucky, on Monday afternoon.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Politico
New York Times:
Negativity Wins the Senate
Negativity Wins the Senate
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Washington Post
Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico:
No Obama pivot after midterms
No Obama pivot after midterms
Discussion:
Liberaland and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
An unhappy electorate is toughest on Obama and the Democrats
An unhappy electorate is toughest on Obama and the Democrats
Discussion:
New York Times, Vox and Guardian
Fox News:
Republicans take Senate majority, Fox News projects
Republicans take Senate majority, Fox News projects
Discussion:
Hot Air, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Hill, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard and The Other McCain
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama: Worst map since Eisenhower
Obama: Worst map since Eisenhower
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Guardian
Peter Baker / New York Times:
President Obama Left Fighting for His Own Relevance — WASHINGTON — Two things were clear long before the votes were counted on Tuesday night: President Obama would face a Congress with more Republicans for his final two years in office, and the results would be seen as a repudiation of his leadership.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, Betsy's Page, NPR, The Daily Caller and The Mahablog
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Battle for the Senate: How the GOP woke up while Democrats were feeling the drag — One night in early September, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called a longtime colleague, Sen. Pat Roberts, from his living room in Louisville, furious about the 78-year-old Republican's fumbling and lethargic reelection campaign.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, BillMoyers.com and RedState
Justin Sink / The Hill:
After blowout, Obama to answer questions — President Obama will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon, facing the White House press corps one day after Democrats were blown out in the midterm elections. — White House aides acknowledge that Tuesday night was tough …
Discussion:
Politico and Political Wire
New York Times:
Republicans' First Step Was to Handle Extremists in Party — WASHINGTON — It was late spring, and Republican leaders knew that if they wanted to win the Senate, they needed to crush the enemy: not Democrats, but the rebels within their own party. — And Chris McDaniel …
Discussion:
Bloomberg Politics and No More Mister Nice Blog
Alexander Burns / Politico:
GOP takes control of Senate in midterm rout
GOP takes control of Senate in midterm rout
Discussion:
ABC News, ABC News, The Hill, Fox News and Just Security
Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
27 senators who voted for Obamacare won't be part of new Senate — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS OBAMACARE SENATE HEALTH CARE 2014 ELECTIONS — On Dec. 24, 2009, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed President Obama's healthcare law with a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority …
Helena Bottemiller Evich / Politico:
Berkeley breaks through on soda tax — Berkeley, Calif., a city known for its progressive politics, made history Tuesday night by approving the first real sin tax on soda in the United States. — Voters looked likely to approve Measure D, a penny-per-ounce tax, by a wide margin …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, Truth Revolt and Bloomberg Politics
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Election Night Takeaways — This wasn't just a bad night for Democrats. This was a downright drubbing. — So, what happened? — All Politics Is National: Democrats believed they could help isolate and insulate their vulnerable Democrats from an unpopular president by making each contest about the individual candidates.
Nathaniel Herz / Anchorage Daily News:
Sullivan lead holds in Alaska U.S. Senate race; Begich won't concede — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan appeared to grab an insurmountable lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich early Wednesday, with all of Alaska's precincts reporting.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, BizzyBlog, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Guardian
Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Tonight's darker omen for the GOP: Losing the Senate in 2016 — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS BARACK OBAMA REPUBLICAN PARTY 2014 ELECTIONS 2016 ELECTIONS CAMPAIGNS — However well Republicans do tonight, President Obama will retain a veto pen. That means GOP control of both chambers …
Discussion:
The Agonist
Tina Nguyen / Mediaite:
MSNBC's Matthews and Sharpton Bash Grimes Concession Speech: ‘You Need to Be Gracious!’ — In the Kentucky Senate race, Democrat challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes lost by a wide margin to Senator Mitch McConnell, and as such, gave a concession speech — one that the MSNBC election coverage team immediately tore apart.
Discussion:
Hot Air and PoliticusUSA
Noelle Crombie / Oregonian:
Recreational marijuana passes in Oregon: Oregon election results 2014 — Oregon voters said yes to marijuana Tuesday, making the state the third to allow the possession and sale of cannabis for recreational rather than strictly medical use. — The crowd at the Southeast Portland club Holocene …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg Politics, Outside the Beltway and BuzzFeed
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Dan Merica / CNN:
Oregon, Washington, D.C. legalize marijuana
Oregon, Washington, D.C. legalize marijuana
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, Bloomberg Politics, Wall Street Journal and Jezebel
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Voters' verdict explodes Democratic myths — As Democratic losses mounted in Senate races across the country on election night, some liberal commentators clung to the idea that dissatisfied voters were sending a generally anti-incumbent message, and not specifically repudiating Democratic officeholders.
Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Wendy Davis Was The Face Of ‘War On Women’ Politics. How'd That Go? — This was a year when the War on Women messaging — previously employed so successfully by the Democrats — failed to yield the desired results. Most of the discussions about that failure have focused on Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado.
Discussion:
Washington Post
ABC News:
Meet Elise Stefanik, the Youngest Woman Ever Elected to Congress … Republican Elise Stefanik has become the youngest woman elected to Congress in history, winning her race against Aaron Woolf in New York's 21st open district 56-32, ABC News projects. — She's the first Republican to win the district …
Discussion:
The College Fix, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air
Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
4 indicted N.Y. pols win reelection — They may have won their midterms on Tuesday, but for a handful of newly reelected New York lawmakers, their next hurdle is avoiding prison time. — New York voters overwhelmingly reelected four lawmakers — one to Congress and three to the state Legislature …
Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Rand Paul: Let D.C. Legalize Marijuana, If Voters Want — BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — As District of Columbia voters are seemingly poised to approve a ballot item to allow cultivation and possession of small quantities of marijuana for personal use, the Republican in charge of a subpanel with D.C. oversight says home rule should prevail.
Discussion:
American Prospect and NPR