The Days of Gridlock Come to an End

Democrats now control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue

IN A YEAR WHEN INCUMBENT HAD BECOME SUCH A dirty word that one expected to hear it bleeped on TV talk shows, both parties were braced for a shake-out in Congress. It didn't happen. While voters put 105 new faces in Congress, the most since 1949, both houses remained firmly in Democratic hands. Democrats gained one seat in the Senate, while Republicans may pick up just 9 in the House -- far short of the 51 they needed to end 38 years of Democratic control. Ninety or more of the incoming 103rd Congress will be female, black or Hispanic, a record....

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