Coming Mid-Term Elections Crucial as Both Parties Grapple for Senate Control

Nov. 4 is the knockout date in this year's mid-term U.S. primary elections. That's the date of the country's general elections.
 
Republicans and Democrats are striving for the big prize:  Control of both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
 
Right now, all 435 House seats and 36 of the 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballots in various states.  The Republicans are desperate to win at least six more seats in the Senate to be able to control both the House and the Senate in the coming six years.  Senators are elected for six-year-terms.
 
While praying for a six-seat victory, the GOP at the same time is praying the Democrats will lose the same number of Senate seats--and they will lose none.
 
The six-seat victory the GOP is seeking is crucial because the Democratic Party at this date holds 53 seats in the Senate versus 45 seats for the Republican Party. Independents hold two seats. Fifty-five seats is considered a majority.
 
In the House of Representatives, the Republicans hold 233 seats; the Democrats, 199.  There are three vacant seats.
 
If the GOP wins those six important seats and regains control of the Senate, President Barack Obama might as well hang out a 'Gone Fishing' sign outside his White House door.  With the Senate and House controlled by the Republicans, he won't be able to pass a single piece of legislation in his last two years in office.
 
Professional pollsters seem to think primary election results in 11 states will shape the balance of power in the Congress over the next six years.
 
Among the 11 are Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia. Democrats currently own those states. But these could quickly switch to GOP control, according to pollsters who admit to having been wrong before.
 
Six other Democrat-held seats are a toss-up.  They are North Carolina, Louisiana, Colorado, Alaska, New Hampshire and Arkansas.
 
Republicans control the remaining two primary races:  Georgia and Kentucky.  Democrats are optimistic they can take these away from the GOP in November.
 
November will also see 46 elections in state legislatures and 36 state gubernatorial elections.
 
While Republicans currently hold 233 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, Democrats continue to be optimistic they can shave that margin of power by winning in about 60 House districts that are pinpointed as becoming possibly close races.
 
That isn't going to happen.  The Republicans will capture those six crucial Senate seats and control the Congress - and the government.
 
Meanwhile, the nation prepares for the 2016 Presidential election that could very well result in another Democratic victory - and a monumental, unprecedented gridlock at one of the world's most prestigious addresses - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC.
 
Who said politics isn't fun?