Obama foes seek full control of US Congress in 2012

Race relations remain a sore point even if the White House has a black president:

US: Republicans are taking aim at full control of the divided US Congress in the November 2012 elections, fueled by voter anger at the sour economy that could also cost President Barack Obama his job.

“It doesn’t look good for Democrats,” according to Matt Dickinson, a professor of political science at elite Middlebury College in Vermont. All 435 seats in the Republican-led House of Representatives are up for grabs, while 33 spots in the Democratic-held Senate will be in play, with opinion poll after opinion poll showing Americans loathe lawmakers in Washington.

A recent CBS television/New York Times survey put Congress’s approval rating at an abysmal nine percent, well below Obama’s own poor showing of 46 percent, both weighed down by partisan bickering and little relief from the grim economy.

Democrats and their independent allies are defending 23 seats in the Senate, where they hold a thin 53-47 majority, while just 10 Republican slots are in play, with just a handful sufficient for the chamber to change hands.

Republicans, who have not held the Senate since 2006, would have to pick up four seats, or just three if Obama loses, because under the US Constitution the vice president breaks any 50-50 tie.

Political handicappers point to Democrats retiring in states like North Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin, and to moderate Democrats in trouble in Montana, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Republicans, on the other hand, face a fight to hold on to seats from Massachusetts, where Senator Scott Brown faces liberal champion Elizabeth Warren. AFP