Midterm elections refer to general elections in the United States that are held two years after the

quadrennial (four-year) elections for the President of the United States (i.e. near the midpoint of
the four-year presidential term). Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms are
members of the United States Congress, including all 435 seats in the United States House of
Representatives, and the full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate.
In addition, 34 of the 50 U.S. states elect their governors to four-year terms during midterm
elections, while Vermont and New Hampshire elect governors to two-year terms in both midterm
and presidential elections. Thus, 36 governors are elected during midterm elections. Many states
also elect officers to their state legislatures and county offices every two years, in both midterm
and presidential election years.
Special elections are often held in conjunction with regular elections, so additional Senators and
governors may be elected to partial terms.

The midterm elections for the year 2010 were held on November 2, 2010:

Recent Scenario And Mid term Election:-

Elections to the United States Senate were held on November 2, 2010, for 37 of the total of
100 seats. A special election for a 38th seat was held in Massachusetts on January 19, 2010, for a
term that ends in January 2013. Thirty-four of the seats were for six-year terms, while three (in
Delaware, New York, and West Virginia) were special elections for shorter terms.

After the 2008 elections and their subsequent events, the United States Senate was composed of
57 Democrats, 41 Republicans, and two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Of the
above 37 seats up for election in 2010, 19 were held by Democrats (seven of whom retired or
were defeated in the primary) and 18 were held by Republicans (eight of whom retired or were
defeated in the primary).

As in most midterm elections, the party not controlling the White House gained ground.
Republicans captured six seats from the Democrats by defeating incumbents in Arkansas and
Wisconsin and winning open seats in Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania. This
was the largest number of Senate gains for the party since the 1994 election and also the first
time since that election that they successfully defended all of their own seats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States,
along with the Republican Party. The party's liberal platform is largely considered center-left in
the U.S. political spectrum.[1][2][3] The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in
the United States. The party had 72 million registered voters in 2004.[President Barack Obama is
the 15th Democrat to hold the office.

In the 2010 elections the Democratic Party lost its majorities in the House of Representatives and
state governorships, as well as its control in the majority of state legislatures. It will continue to
hold a majority of seats in the Senate at the beginning the 112th Congress.

Ideology

Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored liberal positions (the term "liberal" in this
sense describes social liberalism, not classical liberalism). In recent exit polls, the Democratic
Party has had broad appeal across all socio-ethno-economic demographics.[8][9][10] Historically,
the party has favored farmers, laborers, labor unions, and releminorities; it has opposed
unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes. In foreign policy,
internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid-1960s.
In the 1930s, the party began advocating welfare spending programs targeted at the poor. The
party had a pro-business wing, typified by Al Smith, and a Southern conservative wing that
shrank after President Lyndon B. Johnson supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The major
influences for liberalism were labor unions (which peaked in the 1936–1952 era), and the
African American wing, which has steadily grown since the 1960s. Since the 1970s,
environmentalism has been a major new component.

Democratic Party, once dominant in the Southeastern United States, is now strongest in the
Northeast (Mid-Atlantic and New England), Great Lakes region, and the Pacific Coast (including
Hawaii). The Democrats are also very strong in major cities.

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United
States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it
is often called the Grand Old Party (GOP). The party's platform generally reflects American
conservatism in the political spectrum, in contrast to the more "liberal" or "progressive"
Democrats.

The Republican Party has the second most registered voters as of 2004 with 55 million,
encompassing roughly one-third of the electorate[1]. In the 2010 elections the Republican Party
won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, the majority of governorships, as well
as prevalence in the majority of state legislatures, and control of one chamber in five states.
Previously, the Republican Party had held minorities in all three bodies. It will continue to hold a
minority of seats in the Senate at the beginning the 112th Congress.
Ideology

The Republican Party includes fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, neoconservatives,

moderates, and libertarians. Prior to the formation of the conservative coalition, which
helped realign the Democratic and Republican party ideologies in the mid-1960s, the party
historically advocated classical liberalism, paleoconservatism, and progressivism.

Republicans emphasize the role of free markets and individual achievement as the primary
factors behind economic prosperity. As of 2004, the Republican Party had remained fairly
cohesive, as both strong economic libertarians and social conservatives opposed the Democrats,
whom they saw as the party of bloated and more secular, liberal government.[68] Yet, some
libertarians have argued that the GOP's policies have grown increasingly restrictive of personal
liberties, and has contributed to increasing corporate welfare and national debt.[69] Some social
conservatives have expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that
they see as sometimes in conflict with their moral values

What Are The Differences In The Republican And Democrat Stances On

Issues ?

The main thing which distinguishes a democrat from a republican is that Republicans are the
followers of a conservative philosophy while the democrats have liberal views.

National Security:
The Republicans believe in spending funds more on National security and defense and military
budgets. In this regard the democrats are same as the Republicans because they also give a lot of
importance to military.

Environment:
The democrats give importance to environment and issues like global warming and they collect
and give out funds in the name of environment and they control the masses through it. The
Republicans, however, have now realized the importance of all this and are working on the funds
and other things.

Health care:
The Democrats believe in making the living and leisure conditions best for the people and they
spend a lot of money on health. The Republicans prefer to stay to the bare necessities and don’t
spend any funds on other things unless it cant be avoided.

Economy:
Democrats believe in distributing wealth equally and that everyone deserves to live in good
economic conditions. The Republicans think that people get whatever they deserve and nothing
can be done about it.
Review
One point worth keeping in mind: this looks like the third change election in a row in the United
States. First Congress changed hands in 2006, then the White House in 2008, and now Congress
again in 2010. That's six years of volatility. There's nothing in the polls, or the behaviour of
politicians, to suggest that trend is going to end in 2012.

We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people, change course, and
commit to the making the changes they are demanding. Republican John Boehner, set to
become House Majority leader.

In the midterm election, the Democrats lost a whopping sixty seats in the House in the US
midterm elections: sealing the shortest hold on power there for sixty years. The party's defeat
was overwhelming – and across the board – they lost seats from the south to the north east,
which was once a Republican-free zone. Scores of Representatives – some who had held office
for as much as 18 terms – were swept aside: from the most Conservative – like Mississippi's
Gene Taylor, to the liberal Tom Periello in Virginia, who'd become something of a poster-boy
for the Obama healthcare reforms.
The midterms are barely over and already the race for 2012 has begun.

Speculation is everywhere about what the defeat of so many Democratic candidates means for
President Obama's re-election chances. And who is likely to be his Republican challenger.

"We just had tough election,"said Obama on Wednesday. "We will have another in 2012". He
knows his re-election does not look guaranteed at this point.

Republicans are so eager to challenge him that many of the possible contenders didn't even wait
to get this week's mid term elections out of the way before starting their campaigns. To them
these elections were all part of the long game.

In "off year" elections big name politicians can play a key role in getting lesser known
candidates elected. Voters in the US are still prepared to come out on cold night to attend a
political rally in their local school gym, but they are much more likely to do so if a well known
face is going to speaking. So the mid term elections are a great opportunity for possible
presidential candidates to get to speak to voters all across the country - and notch up a few favors
owed by the local candidates they are stumping for.

Sarah Palin made lot of waves and quite a few friends when she went round the country
endorsing Tea Party types in the primary elections and campaigning for them during the general
election. Some of her choices were badly beaten. Like Christine "I'm not a witch" O'Donnell in
Delaware and Sharron Angle who failed to unseat Senate majority leader Harry Reid. And in her
own state of Alaska it looks like her sworn enemy Lisa Murkowski is going to beat the Palin pick
Joe Miller despite the fact that her name was not even on the ballot and voters had to write it in.
So does that mean that she is in trouble if she decided to run for president in 2012? Not
necessarily.
Mitt Romney is widely believed to be planning a run at the presidency and the many in party
establish believe it is his turn. He lent his support to 289 federal and state candidates this year, he
donated $1.1 million to candidate's campaigns and he visited a total of 32 states. A punishing
schedule but that's what you have to do if you want to be president.

But he didn't attract a fraction of the coverage Sarah Palin got. She is the Republican Party's only
genuine celebrity. Not all of her candidates lost on Tuesday night. She endorsed 29 House
candidates and 15 of them won. She backed eight Tea Partiers for the Senate and 5 won. An
average of about 50 per cent victories.

Mitt Romney did better because about three quarters of his picks won their races. But Palin got
all the attention and she will have won points among her Tea Party base for having the courage
to back conservative candidates who didn’t look certain to win. Only 27 per cent of Americans
say they think Palin is qualified to be president (which make you wonder who that 27 per cent
are?) but 100 per cent of political pundits are speculating about what Nov 2nd results mean for
her chances of becoming Americans first female president.

Within the Republican Party they are now taking very seriously the idea that Palin is preparing to
run. Even if it gives many of the Grand Old Men heartburn just to think about it. But Palin is not
going about it in the traditional way. Instead of making numerous trips to Iowa and New
Hampshire she's made a reality TV show. On Nov 14th the first episode of Sarah Palin's
"Alaska" will air on TLC. No one knows what is in it but its being produced the creators of
Survivor and The Apprentice. While America's most famous teen-age mother Bristol Palin has
survived seven weeks as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. Last week she got the judges'
lowest score for her Viennese waltz but was saved by viewers votes - possibly proving just how
good the Tea party is at getting out the vote when it matters.

On Wednesday President Obama pointed out that "two great communicators" former president
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both suffered bad elections half way through their first terms
and still went on to get re-elected. But Obama looked so gloomy at his press conference on
Wednesday it made me think instead of Lyndon Johnson. He, like Obama, won a landslide
election for the presidency and then a sharp reversal 2 years later in the mid terms in 1966. He
ultimately decided not to even run for a second term in 1968.

Everyone is paying so much attention to the right wing of American politics - mostly to the Tea
party insurgency within the Republican Party - that the left gets little mention. But the left wing
of the Democratic Party is not happy with Obama's performance so far and if he makes too many
compromises with the Republicans now running the House they will get more upset. A challenge
to Obama from the left is not impossible. Thursday's edition of the ultimate insider's publican
"Politico" is running the headline "Could Dean Challenge Obama" speculating about a possible
threat from former DNC chairman Howard Dean (remember the scream?)

Its extremely unlikely to anyone could beat Obama to the nomination but simply having to
compete in primary elections would be very damaging to any sitting president. It hasn't happened
since Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Carter later lost the general election.