Opinion, Berkeley Blogs

Not all bad news for Obama

By Charles Henry

The good news in this Democratic bloodbath for Obama is he no longer has to deal with some of the Blue Dog Democrats that won in historically Republican districts in 2008.  Now it's the Republican establishment that will have to control the tea party newcomers.  The bad news is all the House Republicans will agree to launch a series of investigations aimed at weakening the Obama administration over the next two years.

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Watch the state legislatures

Lost in the battle for control of Congress is what's happening in the state capitols.  Democrats currently control about 55% of all state legislative seats.  However, Republicans could gain control of as many as 17 new state legislatures.  This along with control of the governor's office means they would be in the drivers seat when redistricting begins next January following the 2010 Census.  Many mid-western states like Indiana and Ohio where Democrats hold very narrow majorities in the legislature are likely to lose Congressional seats.  Republicans could squeeze Democrats out of the remaining seats through redistricting.