Video | US Democrats brace for loss in mid-term elections
A takeover of the House could be in sight as Republicans brimmed with confidence while Democrats braced for a loss on the even of recession-era elections for the control of Congress and dozens of statehouses across the U.S.
Favourites and underdogs alike went through their final campaign paces yesterday, urging voters to turn out in strength across small towns of swing House districts and the large urban centres where the state-wide races are conventionally won and lost.
President Barack Obama was home from the campaign trail at the White House after a weekend rush through four states. In an interview with radio host, he reportedly backtracked from previous controversial remarks in which he said Latino voters should punish their "enemies" at the polls. He said he should have used the word "opponents" instead.
The president travelled to 14 states in the final month of the campaign, some of them twice, in a bid to rekindle the enthusiasm of young voters, liberals, blacks and independents whose ballots propelled him to the White House.
Vice President Joe Biden instead campaigned in Vermont, where a close gubernatorial election loomed, before heading to his home state of Delaware — one of the few bright spots on the Democratic map this year.
But in the Senate, in particular, the size of the gains depended on the fate of several tea party-backed candidates who toppled establishment candidates in the primaries and now face state-wide electorates. Most prominent among them are Rand Paul in Kentucky and Sharron Angle, who is challenging Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada.
Many speculated that was little or no doubt that Republicans would pick up seats in a campaign cast by their leaders as a repudiation of the president's policies.
"The American people are in charge," declared GOP leader John Boehner while vowing to shrink the size and cost of government if his party wins power today.
"It does us no good that people are supporting us if they don't turn into voters," said Marco Rubio, a Republican who is rated a strong favourite for a Senate seat in a tangled multi-candidate race in Florida.
