Turbocharged by the tea party, Republicans scored a stunning landslide Tuesday, knocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi off her political throne in a midterm election upheaval that ultimately may add up to the biggest GOP wave in modern electoral history.
Early predictions from analysts such as the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato indicate that a net GOP gain of more than 60 seats in the House was not out of the question.
"It's going to be destruction for Democrats from Pennsylvania all the way through Wisconsin and Michigan," Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips tells Newsmax. "It's going to be a wipeout."
In another embarrassing setback, President Barack Obama saw the Illinois U.S. Senate seat he used to occupy fall into Republican hands, as Fox News projected GOP challenger Mark Kirk the victor over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.
House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, expected to become the speaker of the House in the incoming Congress, gave a rousing speech to a joyful Republican crowd late Tuesday night as the Republican wins continued to stack up, declaring: "The American people are demanding a new way forward in Washington."
"The people's priorities will be our priorities," Boehner promised, "and the people's agenda will be our agenda. This is our pledge to America, and this is our pledge to you."
Reflecting the grass-roots spirit that fueled the Republican victory, Boehner offered some words of advice to President Obama.
"The American people have sent an unmistakable message to you tonight," Boehner said. "And that message is: Change course."
Senator-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had the distinction of being the first tea party candidate declared a winner in the 2010 midterm election, echoed those sentiments in his victory speech. His remarks appeared to be a clear indication that it will not be business as usual when tea party-style legislators arrive in the Nation's Capitol.
"They say the U.S. Senate is the world's most deliberative body," Paul said. "Well, I'm going to ask them to deliberate upon this: The American people are unhappy with what's going on in Washington.
"Eleven percent of the people approve of what's going on in Congress . . . but tonight there's a tea party tidal wave, and we're sending a message to them."
"When I arrive in Washington I will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this," he said. "We are in the midst of a debt crisis, and the American people want to know why we have to balance our budget, and they don't.
"I will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this: Governments do not create jobs. Individual entrepreneurs, men and women, create jobs — but not the government," he said to rousing applause.
In one of the evening's most notable developments, Republicans reclaimed control of the Midwest industrial heartland with major victories in Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Arkansas. Many of those races could have a lasting political impact with the 2012 presidential election next up on the political calendar.
With 96 percent of the vote in Ohio, Republican John Kasich was declared the winner over incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland by 50 percent to 47 percent. Tea party candidates in recent weeks have been pointing to Kasich, who served in Congress during the Republican revolution that balanced the budget in the 104th Congress, as a strong contender for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
“Tonight’s results are a clear vindication of common-sense, conservative principles in the heartland of America," FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe declared to Newsmax. "It’s no coincidence that Midwesterners have overwhelmingly voted for tea party-backed candidates. These are Americans who don’t make their living off the government, who represent the hardworking values that an Illinoisan like Ronald Reagan grew up believing — and they are appalled at Washington’s profligate ways.”
The most remarkable GOP inroads came in Wisconsin, where GOP candidate Ron Johnson led incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold by 57 percent to 42 percent with 30 percent of the vote in. Johnson was projected the winner in a state where Republicans have struggled for decades to win national races.
"This is going to be a clean sweep," NBC political analyst Chuck Todd said of Wisconsin, noting that Republicans also picked up several Wisconsin House seats.
Just before 10 p.m., The Associated Press declared Milwaukee County Executive Scott Kevin Walker, a Republican considered an up-and-comer on the national political scene, the winner of the Wisconsin governor race.
Pundits noted the strategic nature of Ohio and Wisconsin, without which there is no likely Democratic path to the presidency in 2012.
Analyst Charlie Cook told MSNBC that it appears Republicans finally have "cracked the code in Wisconsin."
He added that Democrats would struggle "to put 270 electoral votes together for Democrats [in the 2012 president race], if you're losing Wisconsin."
But Wisconsin and Ohio were just the beginning of the revolt against Democrats throughout the states in the industrial heartland states, as Republicans scored landmark gains across the Midwest. Republicans also won big in Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas.
"The industrial heartland is the biggest switch in the country as far as regions go," grass-roots leader Phillips tells Newsmax.
It's no surprise voters in the industrial heartland have rejected big-government policies that have failed to ease the economic hardships in the region, Phillips said.
"I think that area is just going to be a wasteland for Democrats and liberals after tonight," he tells Newsmax.
In Pennsylvania, the race between Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey remained too close to call, until Fox called the race for Toomey by a 51 to 49 percent margin with 99 percent of the vote tallied.
Democrats could console themselves with the fact, however, that incumbent Nevada Democratic and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid prevailed in his battle against tea party favorite Sharron Angle, based on a Fox News projection.
Longtime movement conservative Richard Viguerie tells Newsmax that Republicans headed to Washington should not compromise their principles for the sake of political expediency. That approach, he says, is what cost Republicans so dearly in 2006 and 2008.
"People want somebody who is going to stand up on principle and change the way this government works," Viguerie says.
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