"With Republicans in control of the Senate for the first time since Barack Obama took office, the president may find it harder to appoint left-wing lawyers to judgeships. Whether he compromises on some of his nominees, including any to the Supreme Court, may depend on the willingness of the new Republican majority to engage the president on judicial philosophy. ...

"That Republicans now control the Senate means, of course, that they control the confirmation process. Their majority enables them to stop an unacceptable nomination at various points: They can deny the nominee a committee hearing; they can vote the person down in committee; they can refuse to schedule a vote on a nomination sent to the floor; and the full Senate can vote to reject the nomination. The Republicans' majority status also strengthens their negotiating position with the White House, making it more likely that a mutually acceptable candidate will be chosen for a given seat.

"How Obama approaches judicial selection -- and how Republicans respond -- now becomes an important story and will remain so until the Senate shuts down judicial confirmations, probably in the summer of 2016 if Senate custom in presidential-election years is followed."

"The 2014 election has given the GOP the rare opportunity to retroactively redeem its brand. The conventional perception, incessantly repeated by Democrats and the media, is that Washington dysfunction is the work of the Party of No. Expose the real agent of do-nothing. Show that, when Harry Reid can no longer consign House-passed legislation to oblivion, Congress can actually work.

"Pass legislation. When Obama signs, you've shown seriousness and the ability to govern. When he vetoes, you've clarified the differences between party philosophies and prepared the ground for 2016.

"Tuesday's victory was big. But it did nothing more than level the playing field and give you a shot. Take it."

"So why, after prior successes, did Obama's race/class/gender attack finally sputter out like the French at Waterloo?

"Unhappy voters thought the anemic economy, Obamacare, the collapse of U.S. foreign policy, the scandals in government, and the incompetent handling of everything from the Islamic State to Ebola were the only real issues. Democrats'€™ refusal to acknowledge them did not make these failures go away.

"Nor did Americans believe that Republicans had been waging war on minorities, women, or gays -- especially given that Republicans have held the House only since 2011 and have been out of power in the Senate and presidency since 2009.

"After three elections, voters finally caught on that Obama's faults were not in the stars, but in himself. They apparently tired of the usual distractions from a dismal presidential record."

"As Democratic losses mounted in Senate races across the country on election night, some liberal commentators clung to the idea that dissatisfied voters were sending a generally anti-incumbent message, and not specifically repudiating Democratic officeholders. But the facts of the election just don't support that story.

"Voters replaced Democratic senators with Republicans in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, and likely in Alaska, and appear on track to do so in a runoff next month in Louisiana. At the same time, voters kept Republicans in GOP seats in heavily contested races in Georgia, Kansas, and Kentucky. That is at least ten, and as many as a dozen, tough races, without a single Republican seat changing hands. Tuesday's voting was a wave alright -- a very anti-Democratic wave....

"In the end, Tuesday's vote represented a repudiation of virtually every notion Democrats embraced in recent weeks as they tried to disregard the growing evidence that they were headed for a historic defeat. Now, the vote is in, and the voters' message can no longer be discounted."

"Prominent Democratic strategists are growing increasingly nervous that the national political environment is not only bad for their side but moving in the wrong direction in the final days before the election, a trend that not only could cost their party control of the Senate but also result in double-digit House losses. ...

"Of course, with the last ads shipped and the last polls conducted, there'€™s not much to do but try to read the tea leaves. And from what Democrats are seeing, it doesn't look good. At all."

"If there were any doubts the Obama Democrats cannot be trusted, look at their scurrilous campaigns. From coast to coast, their message is uniformly odious: Republicans are waging a 'war on women' and they are racists.

"That's it. They can'€™t defend the legislation they passed, the economy they produced or the foreign policy they supported. Most don'€™t want to be seen with Obama, yet they take the money he raises and follow his lead in exploiting race and gender fault lines.

"Scraping the bottom of the rancid barrel, they prove they will do anything to hold on to power. They cannot be allowed to succeed.

"It is time for them to go."

"It must be very frustrating to believe that a nation acts in its own best interests rather than the interests of an American political party. Despite [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu's assurances that he wouldn't mess with the president's 2012 campaign, it is he, out of all the leaders in all the world, who frustrates Obama most. Not Russian autocrats who invade sovereign nations. Not genocidal Arab dictators. Netanyahu. I forget which sycophantic liberal pundit pointed out on Twitter that this makes sense because we're prone to be frustrated more by our friends than by our enemies. For that to be true, one would have to accept the dubious notion that the president ever considered Israel a 'friend' in any special sense."

"So, a 'senior Obama administration official' called the prime minister of Israel -- our closest ally in the Middle East and one of the few nations in the region that is not (a) imploding or (b) actively funding or supporting terrorists -- 'a chickenshit.' While that word has rocketed around the globe, other descriptions of Benjamin Netanyahu include, 'recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and '€˜Aspergery.'€™ And let'€™s not forget the worst word of all, 'coward.'

"Behold, the beautiful and delicate rhetorical stylings of our cultural and political elite. They'€™re the improvisational jazz musicians of American diplomacy, always ready with just the right word to solidify alliances, avoid unnecessary confrontation, and reassure Americans they know exactly what they're doing in the face of bloody violence. ...

"Bravo. You truly have 'reset' American foreign policy. You must feel so proud.'

"Folks trying to plan their personal fiscal '15 are at a loss. They can't do a budget because they don't know what their health insurance costs will be.

"Nobody knows because Team Obama has conveniently arranged for you to be kept in the dark on your health insurance costs until after everyone votes next week.

"Most are expecting 5 percent to 10 percent hikes, but there are rumblings of far nastier surprises."

"Some Democrats and their advocates in the press believe Obamacare, a year into implementation, is no longer much of a factor in the midterm elections. But no one has told Republican candidates, who are still pounding away at the Affordable Care Act on the stump. And no one has told voters, especially those in states with closely contested Senate races, who regularly place it among the top issues of the campaign. ...

"So Republican candidates bash Obamacare and move up in the polls. Given that public opinion remains firmly against the health care law -- as it has been for years -- that's not a shock. Democratic beliefs to the contrary are probably wishful thinking.

"Polls suggest that more and more, opposition to Obamacare is based on voters' personal experience, and not just on what they have heard or read about the law. ...

"That does almost nothing to address voters' concerns, which remain a potent factor in the campaign. The bottom line is, there's a reason Republicans keep pushing so hard against Obamacare: So far, it's working."