President Obama Retained The Senate; President Clinton Did Not

Lost in the media analysis of the 2010 Midterm Elections is the fact that President Obama managed to maintain Democratic control of the Senate. Many, like CNN and even MSNBC analysts have talked as if President Obama, like Democratic President Clinton before him, lost both the House and the Senate. Not so.

In fact, given that the economic conditions of 2010 are far worse than they were in 1996, Obama really came out smelling like a rose. Then, the U.S. unemployment rate was 5.75 percent; now it's far larger at 9.6 percent. With that, the Republican gains such that the U.S. House of Representative is majority Republican, 235 to 196, but the Senate remains in Democratic hands, even with the Alaska election votes still being counted.

With this, President Obama has a better foundation from which to work with than Clinton did. Republicans should be careful not to overplay their hand, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did that already, stating his objective was to get Obama out of the White House. What Senator McConnell doesn't count on is the backlash that's already started against him.

McConnell's ability to grasp complex economic legislation has been questioned, and more blogger attacks will come. Republicans can't rest; Democrats are on the march. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough is totally wrong; Obama has more power than ever.