"Forced to hold Republican-leaning territory, they give their candidates wide latitude to break from the party."

Pure Barbara Streisand! What this actually means is that democrat senators from red states are in a better position to extort more stuff for their votes.

All in all.....this article whines that really.....republicans are in the "natural" majority. What was unsaid, but alluded too is that democrats have to lie about their true beliefs to win outside of Boston, Chicago, New York and Berkeley.

In 2010, the GOP picked up 63 seats in the House, 6 in the Senate, over 700 seats in statehouses and flipped control of 20 statehouses.
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The sentiment remains. Obama is toxic, as is the liberal agenda. Seeing how the looney left has purged the moderates from their party, the Dems will be a minority for the next generation.

"There are two incredibly depressing lessons here. The first is that the incredibly important decision of which party controls the House is something we Americans have little say over."

NO! NO! NO! Us Americans have a lot to say about it, and you will hear us in November. You may think we are in flyover country, but we are just as happy for you to never come here with your condescending attitute and elitism. The Silent Majority will rule.

Wonder if Jonathan was this concerned when the dems held a lock on the majority...somehow I doubt it.

Chait is the archetype of the brainy liberal with not a whit of sense. His concerns are valid, and he is entirely delusional on virtually every statement he makes after the setup. Chait could be the poster boy for some kind of neo-Stalinism.

The wave will build and the house, senate and white house will be republican. Touch you know what..

I just broke my rule and read some of the comments. Those guys crack me up!!!

This is the legacy of the 111th congress, the worst in the history of the Republic. The payback should (and may) last for years.

#3: what the heck does he mean by "we Americans"? Insane! His complaint, I suspect, is that he and his leftist tyranny-lovers can't get the rabble to do what they want.


And he has no clue as to why what he's saying is absurd and offensive. Classic Chait.

You want to talk about totally partisan legislating how about mentioning Obamacare?

Jon Chait is the Boy in the Plastic Bubble. He is so lost in the liberal hive mind that he's trapped in a labyrinth of misunderstandings of his own creation.

Somebody dial 911. This guy needs a whambulance.

" huge, wasted majorities " You just can't make this stuff up!

#13...many of the ARE wasted on a daily basis.

The best part is the complaint about unpopular and radical policies the Repubs supposedly advocate-this in the face of Obama care which last I looked is oppossed by a majority in this country and was encacted without a single Republican vote. Too funny.

What a load! Typical lamestream screed - GOP is radical, extreme, fanatical, blah blah blah. I'm sure it never ocurred to little Jonathan that Middle America ababdoned the Democrats because it is they who are the extremist and it's their supporters in urban areas who are the fanatics. After all, it isn't GOP supporters who are running wild in the streets screaming "I's gots my free Obamaphone! Romney sux!"

Unreal - in this loon's world "we Americans" is a group in opposition to "the Republicans" who have somehow magically managed to steal the House and are going to destroy everything. Stopped wasting my time after that.

Insane clown, fully detached from reality.

Based on the available data, apparently living in NYC puts one at great risk of loss of grip on reality.

Another reason to dislike New York, right along with Schumer, Nanny, Weiner and his Mosbro Ho, Rangel, NBC News, NYT, Streisand etc. God help the good people of this state.

The Democrat model for winning elections is unraveling before his eyes. 2008 was an anomaly and it's just dawning on them now.
The Dems are dependent on getting lopsided support from a few segments of society, plus an odd assortment of uniformed and/or naive voters.
Perhaps he should ask himself why no Democrat has served 2 full terms besides Bubba Clinton in the last 75 years. Voters get sick of them real fast.

What little Johnnie fails to mention is that with all the libs crammed into the high rise cities - when they are in control - we are ruled by folks who really don't know what the country is about.

He would have Seinfeld and Castanza rule us all, from their inner city walk everywhere out of touch existence.

FTA: But conceding Republican control of the House means allowing all manner of extreme and unpopular policies. One is that Republican control means that the debt ceiling will become a regular game of Russian roulette with the world economy rather than a posturing opportunity,

I'll remember that. Supporting the Constitution, following the law, representing your constituents is...

...extreme. Oh, and using the debt ceiling to obtain concessions is Russian Roulette. You know, I don't recall it being called that when the Donks did it.