CLEARLY, the GOP gained a lot in this election, but not to the degree they did in 1994 when they won both the House and Senate, and the House with a bigger margin then. In truth the GOP came out towards the lower end of the range in which analysts expected (61+ seat is a lot, but some analysts had the GOP gaining as many as 100). In 1994 the unemployment rate was around 6%, while today it is 9.5. The Dem losses should have been bigger, not smaller? So why is this?

The reason very clearly is the Tea Party.

Democrats everywhere can thank them for keeping the Senate in democratic hands. Before the nomination of masturbation witch Christine O'Donnell, Delaware was an expected GOP pickup. Before the nomination of Ken "I'm against big government, but I want the government to force women to have their rapists' babies" Buck, Colorado was heavily favored in the GOP column for a pickup. And before Sharon "I'll talk to the press when I'm a senator" Angle, Nevada was an absolute lock to switch to the GOP. I wonder if Angle will now try to exercise "second amendment solutions"?

The nomination of these three extremist nuts are what prevent a GOP takeover of the Senate. The Tea Party did have some successes, but in high profile races they were not as successful.

I'm walking out of this election feeling like things could have been way worse. Thanks again Tea Party whack jobs!