this morning, there is a lot less blue in washington. predictions of a republican wave come true. >> tonight, there's a tea party tidal wave. and we're sending a message to them. >> the new face of washington. defiant and strong. >> i spent my whole life chasing the american dream. >> a night that swept newcomers into power. >> as voters prove personal fortune isn't a free ticket to power. and ideas from the '70s are new again. >> i still carry with me, my sense of, that missionary zeal to transform the world.

good morning. and thanks for being with us. well, this morning, it is being called a gop sweep. and a tea party tidal wave. >> whatever the name of it is, because of it, republicans now control the house of representatives by at least 58 seats. that's the biggest party turnover in more than 70 years. president obama placed a congratulatory phone call to republican leaders overnight, vowing to find some common ground. the senate, the gop picked up at least six seats, not enough to take over. democrat harry reid with his victory in nevada remains the senate leader. so, is that common ground going to be hard to come by? emily schmidt joins us from capitol hill with all of last night's election results. >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you.t we know. here's what we know. power here on capitol hill will change because of all that's happened across the country

overnight. democrats hold on to the senate. republicans are going to take control of the house. and even as the votes are still being counted, they know they have picked up more seats than in any midterm election since 1938. in one night, with dozens of seats in congress picked up, republicans told president obama they intend to take change in a new direction. >> the american people have sent an unmistakable message to him tonight. and that message is, change course. >> reporter: john boehner is now in line to be the next speaker of the house. while democrat, harry reid, won his race and will likely remain the senate majority leader. his party held on to senate control. >> we're going to bounce back stronger than ever. >> reporter: reid survived the toughest race of his career, as he defeated tea party-backed sharron angle. christine o'donnell lost to democrat chris coons in delaware. but other tea party favorites celebrated. >> we've come to take our government back. >> reporter: rand paul won in

kentucky. marco rubio will be florida's newest senator. >> a second chance for republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago. >> reporter: in exit polls, 62% of voters said the economy was the most important issue this election, costing long-term democrats, like wisconsin's russ feingold, their job. but democrats pulled out other tight senate races. >> i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this victory, after the toughest and roughest campaign of my life. >> reporter: meaning capitol hill power will be divided. just as voters say they want more done in washington. and more on the change that's already happening in washington. president obama called john boehner at midnight to congratulate him. they talked about what they're going to do to work together. boehner says he told the president he wants to work on adding jobs and cutting spending. he says that's what the american people expect. rob and vinita?

rob and vinita? >> so, votesers were obviously upset with the current policies. what else do we know about voter sentiment? >> reporter: we looked at exit polls. it was very interesting. one in four voters identified themselves as angry. of those voters, 84% chose the republican on the ballot. that's going to be a strong message republicans will bring,i as the newest lawmakers begin to go to work in january. rob and vinita? >> interesting times. all right. emily schmidt on capitol hill this morning. thanks, emily. whether they are celebrating or licking their wounds this morning, both sides are preparing for the changes. >> outgoing pennsylvania governor, ed rendell, is giving his take on what exactly went wrong. while mississippi governor, haley barbour, is looking toward the future. >> the next step on the political agenda for republicans is defeat obama. this election has been a repudiation of president obama's policies. >> i think this was a reaction to the worst economic times this

country has been going through since the great depression. when you look it, every time there's a bad economy, whoever is in, gets blamed. we did a terrible job communicating to the public what we did. want to catch you up on some of the other big senate races people are talking about. it could be weeks until we know the winner of the senate race in alaska. write-in candidates have received the most vote. that's considered good news for incumbent republican lisa murkowski, who would stay in the race after losing the primary to joe miller. >> and as emily mentioned in her report, tea party-backed republican rand paul won the senate race in kentucky. it was paul's first-ever run for office. his father is congressman, ron paul, of texas. >> and in pennsylvania, pat toomey won a hard-fought race. he nearly defeated democrat, joe sestak. and one of the biggest democratic victories of the night belonged to senate majority leader, harry reid.

he managed to fight back against not only a tea party challenge. but also frustrated voters of his home state of nevada. jon karl was there. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. a stunning victory for harry reid here in nevada. the top democrat in the senate. somebody who had been seen as, perhaps, the most vulnerable democrat in congress, has won here in nevada. defying the republican wave that has swept so much of the rest o. the country. he defeated sharron angle. and he defeated her pretty soundly. did it, in part, by just rolling a relentlessly negative campaign. a campaign at times quite ugly. portraying sharron angle, who is a real tea party hero, as somebody who was way outside the mainstream. and now, harry reid wakes up to another reality, which is he is the majority leader. but he goes back to a senate majority that is a much smaller majority. a majority, nonetheless. and it is a victory that he will certainly take. back to you, vinita and rob. >> jon thanks. in the 37 races for governor

across the nation, republicans won at least 10 statehouses held by democrats. >> and one democrat who bucked the trend was 72-year-old jerry brown in california. brown defeated republican meg whitman, who spent $160 million of her own fortune on her campaign. he returns to sacramento after serving as governor of that state from 1975 to 1983. >> i'm really into this politics thing. i still carry with me that sense of that missionary zeal to transform the world. in nearby arizona, republican governor, jan brewer, was re-elected. she gained national attention for her state's law cracking down on illegal immigration. not to mention a nearly disastrous debate performance. and voters in south carolina elected republican nikki haley, who will become that state's first female g she was supported by sarah palin. and will be indian-american governor. the other is bobby jindal in louisiana.

>> and in texas, republican rick perry has won an unprecedented third four-year term. he defeated former houston mayor bill white. so, now that most of the votes have been counted, what's next? >> president obama will hold a news conference today at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. he is expected to talk about issues he wants to work on with the republicans. coabc news will provide live coverage of that news conference. >> looking a bit further ahead, the new congress will be sworn in officially january 3rd, 2011. now, for this morning's weather from around the country. another wet day along the gulf coast, with some heavy rain and flooding from houston to the florida panhandle. showers in florida, from tallahassee to miami, moving into georgia, the carolinas, and southern virginia by this afternoon. cool and breezy, with showers from duluth to detroit. >> mostly 50s from fargo to indianapolis. 40 in boston. 54 here in new york. and a wet 78 in new orleans. 90 degrees in phoenix. 76 in sacramento. and 60s from seattle to albuquerque.

and when we come back on nie this morning after the midterms, revealing, new details about the bush white house. did the president at one time consider firing dick cheney? plus, the morning's other news, including the mysterious death of a world-champion surfer. stay with us. ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart. yeah... don't do that. at ally, you'll love our online savings account. named the best of 2010 by money magazine. ally. do you love your bank ? [ breathes deeply, wind blows ] ♪ something wrong with your squeegee, kid?

uh, i'm a little sick. sick?! you gonna let a sore throat beat you? you're fearless! this building is tough, but it's never seen the likes of you before. are you going to be a champ or a chump? a champ! show me! ahhhhhhhhh! atta boy! ahhhhhhhhh! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. with triple soothing action. [ bell dings ] to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists.

welcome back. we have learned overnight that former president bush once considered dropping dick cheney from the 2004 ticket. mr. bush writes in his new

memoir, "decision points," that he considered such a move to demonstrate that he was in charge. the two men discussed the idea over lunch. then, mr. bush decided to stick with cheney because he trusted his steady hand. there are new questions, this morning, about the ability of iraqi security forces to protect baghdad. this all comes after a series of coordinated attacks across the capital killed at least 76 people and injured 200 more. the blast, at least 13 separate attacks, came just 2 days after gunmen in baghdad held a christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead. asian stocks are moving higher this morning. markets are closed in japan for a holiday. but hong kong's hang seng is surging. in london, the ftse climbed 1% today. on wall street, the dow gained 64 points yesterday. the nasdaq jumped 28 points, closing at its highest level in more than 2 years. investors will be waiting on word from the federal reserve this afternoon. the central bank will announce its latest plan to still jolt the struggling economy. policymakers are expected to buy

more government bonds in hopes of lowering interest rates to spur on spending. an autopsy will be performed today on former three-time world surfing champion, andy irons. the 32-year-old was found dead in a hotel room in dallas. he was reportedly battling dengue fever. irons had withdrawn from a competition in puerto rico last weekend, saying he got sick during a recent event in portugal. our election coverage continues on this wednesday morning. how an effort to legalize marijuana may have helped save one senator's job. berry-topped, almond strudel pie? ♪ triple-chocolate-swirl brownie? ♪ [ sk sampler ] crunchy, berry, nutty, chocolatey goodness? [ female announcer ] when watching your weight, the more options you have, the more likely you are to stay on track. special k® cereals. in nine delicious flavors like red berries, chocolatey delight and fruit & yogurt.

' cause variety equals victory. taste all nine. ' cause variety equals victory. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist.

♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise ain relieving heat patch activates sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals for deep penetrating relief .you can feel precisely where ou need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. i spent my whole life, chasing the american dream. and when i saw up at washington

had become core values of this great nation, i put my name forward and ran for office. >> ohio's john boehner, of course, is poised to step into his new role as speaker of the house. he called the election results the repudiation of washington and big government. now, recapping the headlines on this morning-after. the republicans have taken control of the u.s. house by a commanding majority of nearly 60 seats. but the democrats have retained power in the u.s. senate. >> the gop can tank tea party republicans for sweeping them into power in some of the biggest races across the country. and the obama administration is reassessing, now working towards hanging on to the white house in 2012. >> of course, after last night, congress will be divided, come january. among those who will be there, though, delaware democrat, chris coons, who defeated tea party-backed republican, christine o'donnell, thanks to strong backing from moderates. but o'donnell told supporters, the effort was worth it. >> the republican party will never be the same.

and that's a good thing. our voices were heard. and we're not going to be quiet now. this is just the beginning. in illinois, republicans took control of president obama's former senate seat. congressman mark kirk narrowly defeated state treasurer alexi giannoulias. after it was confirmed, he told his supporters, a tsunami hit the heartland. and blumenthal defeated linda mcmahon. mcmahon was a former wrestling executive. >> in florida, rubio defeated kendrick meek. and out in california, democrat barbara boxer has held on to her seat, after a heated campaign against republican carly fiorina. fiorina is the former head of

hewlett-packard. well, the golden state was among the few bright spots for democrats. >> "nightline" anchor, bill weir, is in california, now, with more. bill? >> reporter: well, rob and vinita, california was an anomaly on this night. a counter culture symbol in the west. it proved to be a firewall for democrats. and senator barbara boxer held her party here in hollywood. going back to washington for her fourth term. this puts her there until age 75. californians seem to appreciate her insider credentials, much more so than former hewlett-packard ceo, carlyfiorio fiorina, who ran as a strong business leader. and meanwhile, meg whitman, spent $160 million of her own money. the most expensive nonpresidential campaign ever. got beaten handily by jerry brown, the former california governor from the '70s, early '80s. he was the youngest governor

back then. he would be the oldest governor now. a rare bit of democratic joy out in the golden state. vinita? rob? >> thanks a lot, bill. also in the golden state, it is still illegal to smoke pot. voters defeated proposition 19, that would have allowed small amounts of marijuana to be grown and smoked. the measure was opposed by both political parties and law enforcement. very little money went to actually generating any support for it. well, it was an expensive and nasty campaign that nearly received unprecedented coverage over the internet. >> it's only fitting that our david muir watched the return at arizona university in a tech-savvy town hall meeting. david? >> reporter: vinita and rob, this is a town fall. unprecedented to team up with facebook in this way. and tonight, they unveiled technology never used before. tracking races in real-time. one of the things we did, we

asked them to compare the abc news projection map. this is based on polling and the data we pulled together, with what they put together. you had your own map forecasting the outcome tonight. how did you do it? >> we're taking a look at which candidates have more likes on facebook. in 16 of the 20 races we were looking at, we were able to accurately predict the based on facebook. >> reporter: and the overnight broadcast is tracking overnight headlines. and we're here, too, as well. we've asked some of the students to weigh in on different websites. you're on slate? >> and the headline is dear tea party, thanks for the senate. >> and it says, on second thought, it has president obama pretty -- giving the look. >> reporter: the headlines show the extremes this evening of what's happened in the house and the senate. and one last thing. marijuana, the proposition in california went down. we just learned this.

we were able to see mentions in real-time, actually spiking on the issue. one more example of how people weigh in almost immediately on facebook. you see 296 mentions in 1 minute. one example of how facebook was able to track the election. david muir, abc news, asu. there was another lasting image from election night last night. one democrat who held on to his seat could not contain himself. >> here's something you don't see often, colorado congressmang he was doing cartwheels. >> he was excited. we'll be right back. ♪ [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute.

way to brew. [ female announcer ] so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. all you expect from the number-one recommended detergent by dermatologists. all free clear is free of dyes and perfumes. and has powerful stainlifters to help get your whole wash clean. it's all good. when a tornado tore through holly, colorado, air life denver took to the air... their night-vision goggles keeping them safe on a perilous flight... and powering those precision goggles--- is the only battery air life trusts: duracell. broad daylight or the darkest night... it just has to work. duracell. trusted everywhere.

it just has to work. in a more delicious world, there would be more smoothness, more creaminess, more rich just-for-me-ness, more hershey's bliss-fulness. hershey's bliss. it's not just chocolate. it's bliss.

[ male announcer ] a big day deserves a better breakfast. choose from a dee-licious lineup of our newest $5 footlong breakfast melts, like the sunrise subway melt. [ strahan ] subway. build your better breakfast. now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this wednesday. president obama is expected to sound a conciliatory note later today, when he holds a news conference. the president has already told republican leaders he is looking forward to finding common ground. nasa is dealing with an electrical problem onboard the space shuttle "discovery." today's shuttle launch has been delayed until tomorrow at the earliest. if they don't get the shuttle off the ground by sunday or monday, they will have to wait until the next launch. it's down to the final five on "dancing with the stars." after last night's surprise elimination, rick fox and cheryl burke join us live on "good morning america."

for some of you, your local news i. introducing anew platinum. an avon breakthrough. the first with paxillium technology. it's designed to help restore cell shape... skin looks more contoured...sculpted... re-defined. even your jaw line. anew platinum does it. and only avon has it... with a love it or return it guarantee. want it? get it. call 1-800-for-avon or go to avon.com to find a representative today. it couldn't conquer. powerful torque, greater control in the tightest spaces craftsman. trust. in your hands.

[ breathes deeply, wind blows ] something wrong with your squeegee, kid? uh, i'm a little sick. sick?! you gonna let a sore throat beat you? you're fearless! ahhhhhhhhh! atta boy! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. with the $2.50 breakfast combo. get a 16oz. cup of piping-hot seattle's best coffee and a savory new sunrise subway melt built fresh to your order for just $2.50. subway. build your better breakfast. for just $2.50. set your pace to island time. rich chocolate over creamy coconut. almond joy and mounds. enjoy more.

>> next on "abc 7 news," big changes coming to congress. an old governor is california's new governor. we'll have the latest election results. preparing for hundreds of thousands coming to a giants' celebration. what you need to know. mike nicco has the forecast. >> i don't think you could ask for better weather.

finally from us this morning, win or lose, candidates put their best faces forward as they addressed reporters last night. >> we look back at some of the night's speeches, from the enthusiastic to the emotional. >> it's clear, t, who the real winners are. and that's the american people. i spent my whole life chasing the american dream. >> we have come to take our government back. >> so, although the outcome isn't what we all worked so hard for, our voice was heard. >> you've taken a chance on me. i will never stop trying to make you proud. thank you. >> where it doesn't matter if your dad was a bartender and your mom was a maid. you can accomplish anything you want if you're willing to work hard for it and play by the

rules. >> when you look and you see, putting the party first or putting your personal agenda or political agenda second and the country last, it doesn't work. it doesn't work. it's not how we do things in west virginia. that's not how we repair things and made them better. we put west virginia first. it's time to put america first. >> these are real divisions. and they're divisions tonight, in california. they'll be divisions in the state capitol. they'll be divisions in washington. i take my challenge of forging a common purpose. but a common purpose, not based just on compromise. but on a vision of what california can be. >> we didn't just make history. we made better a lot of futures. because of you, we did it. thank you. >> what a night. again, the president will address the mood of the voters today, and those pending changes coming to capitol hill. >> president obama's news conference begins at