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If there was any modulation of Republican joy, and any consolation for Democrats, it was that the President did not demonstrate much of a coattail pull. The G.O.P. retained control of the Senate as expected, but suffered a net loss of two seats from its pre-election 55-to-45 majority. In the House, Republicans did not come close to recapturing the 26 seats they lost to Democrats in the 1982 midterm election; Wednesday-morning projections gave them a net gain of ten to 15. That would not only keep the Democrats in control of the lower chamber; it might deny Reagan the "ideological majority" of Republicans and conservative Democrats that he enjoyed in the first two years of his term.
On the presidential level, though, Reagan's sweep was emphatic enough at least to raise the question: Might this be the realigning election that could make the Republican candidate, whoever he or she may be, the favorite in future contests for the White House? There is not much hard evidence. The percentage of voters identifying themselves in exit polls as Republicans did rise about five points from 1980, but still was only about 35%. There were some indications, however, that realignment is at least a possibility, given a suc cessful Reagan second term. The election destroyed the long-held assumption that an increase in voting automatically favors the Democrats. The total vote on Tuesday rose only to a projected 89.3 million, from 86.5 million in 1980; the percentage of those eligible who actually cast ballots fell to 51.4% from 52.6% four years ago. Nonetheless, most of the new voters obviously went to Reagan. On top of that, the President won nearly two-thirds of the votes cast by youths 18 to 24, his highest margin in any age group and something of a new constituency for the Republicans.
There was no question what the election said about the national mood. For the first time in at least a dozen years, Americans were voting for rather than against. They were not necessarily approving Reagan's conservative ideology, though that ideology holds more sway than anyone could have guessed even in 1980, or rewarding his engaging personality, attractive though it obviously is. Above all they were expressing satisfaction with what has become a rarity in American politics: what seems to be a successful presidency, in terms of economic growth and national strength and pride, especially in contrast to the turbulent terms that preceded it. Said Edward Reilly, a Boston-based pollster who conducted national research for Mondale: "The status quo with Reagan was preferable to the risk of going back to Carter-Mondale. There was no compelling reason to leave Reagan." The very notion of having a President serve two terms might have proved significant to many voters.