Obama's Democratic allies took the hit from voters, with Republicans gaining a majority in the Senate for the first time during his presidency and adding seats in the House, which they have controlled for four years.

Voter 'disillusionment'

Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, attributed his party's gains to "disappointment and disillusionment with the administration." He added, "I don't think on the other end it's a major endorsement of the Republican Party, either."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who led fundraising for the Republicans' gubernatorial campaigns, said the outcome was a result of "the absolute vapid leadership of the president of the United States."

Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said today on CNN, "America wants us to go in a different direction but they do expect us to get our jobs done."

Fifty-eight percent of voters said they were dissatisfied or angry at the White House, according to preliminary exit polls; 59 percent said the same about Republican congressional leaders.

Equity-index futures rose, the dollar strengthened and precious metals fell. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures advanced 0.6 percent at 8:46 a.m. in New York, signaling the gauge will approach a record. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed to its highest level since April 2009. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 1 percent.

Repeated scandals

Democratic candidates couldn't unburden themselves from the anchor of an unpopular president. Along with stagnant wages, they were denied traction by the failed rollout of the Obamacare website a year ago, scandals at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service and Secret Service, and public fears over the rise of Islamic State and the potential spread of the Ebola virus.

The discontent simmered even as the economy showed signs of strength in the run-up to the election, posting its best six months of growth in more than a decade. Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the three months that ended in September after a 4.6 percent gain in the second quarter, the best back-to-back showing since 2003.

Wrong track

Most Americans haven't shared in the gains. Adjusted for inflation, the July median household income of $54,045 was $2,600 lower than in December 2007, when the recession began, according to Sentier Research, an economic-consulting firm.

Voters by 65-31 percent said the country is on the wrong track. That's 12 points more negative than two years ago and was the second-gloomiest exit-poll reading since 1990, trailing only the 2008 election, the preliminary numbers showed. Half of voters expect life to be worse for the next generation.

Republicans, led by McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, have to decide what mix of confrontation and cooperation best positions the party to hold the ground it took yesterday and make a run at the White House in 2016.

"I don't expect the president to wake up tomorrow and view the world any differently than he did this morning," McConnell said at a victory celebration. "He knows I won't either."

'Work together'

Still, McConnell said, he and the president have "an obligation to work together" where they can forge agreement.

Obama offered an opening gesture with an invitation to congressional leaders from both parties to meet with him at the White House on Friday, a presidential aide said. The administration also was preparing for a possible Cabinet meeting before Obama departs on a trip to Asia, another official said.

Yet before returns started coming in, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama won't delay an executive order on immigration the president has said he would announce before the end of the year, a pledge opposed by Republicans.

In September, Obama retreated from his promise to swiftly revise immigration policies, citing the "extreme politicization" of the issue.

For Republicans, the big question is whether they will make a serious bid to overhaul immigration laws. The issue deeply divides the party, and many strategists say Democrats will be able to use it as a cudgel against their opponents in 2016 if it isn't resolved by then.

Fight Obama

The party's hardest task will be fostering solidarity between a Tea Party contingent focused on drawing contrasts with Obama and an establishment wing anxious to demonstrate that Republicans can be trusted with power.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party-backed Texas Republican, said this week that his colleagues must fight Obama at every turn. His priority, he told the Washington Post, is "looking at the abuse of power, the executive abuse, the regulatory abuse, the lawlessness that sadly has pervaded this administration."

Cruz also wants to dismantle Obama's health care law, a mission that would require improbable two-thirds majorities in both chambers to overcome presidential vetoes.

Candidate recruits

He may find he hasn't gained many new followers for his brand of Republicanism in yesterday's Senate results. The party succeeded in recruiting candidates who generally were younger than the lawmakers they replaced, avoided campaign-killing flubs, and are expected to be more amenable to working with the party leaders in Washington.

Some Republican leaders also say an all-out confrontation with Democrats is a one-way ticket back to the minority. There are a few issues, notably the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, where both sides say Obama and Republicans can come together.

Republicans have hinted at areas where they feel they have the upper hand. For years, they have tried to force approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline, repeal a medical device tax and begin the process of cutting corporate taxes.

Some Democrats, including Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth, say McConnell will opt to cooperate.

"He will try to do something to preserve his legacy," Yarmuth said. "I don't think he wants a legacy that after he finally reached his lifelong ambition to be majority leader that he then spent the two years doing nothing but obstructing."

Executive powers

Frustrated with gridlock in Congress, Obama declared earlier this year that he would use his executive power to circumvent lawmakers on climate change and the minimum wage paid to federal contractors, as well as on immigration. That didn't help his party yesterday and some, including Vice President Joe Biden, have signaled a willingness to compromise with Republicans.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who is a member of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's inner circle, said some in his party are forgetting how difficult it has been for the White House to work with House Republicans.

"You're still going to have a House of Representatives that is dominated by a Tea Party agenda," Van Hollen said. "Even if there were some Republicans in the Senate that now want to work with the president, it's hard to see how the dynamics in the House change."

2016 map

Showing they can govern will be an issue for Republicans not only for holding the Senate against a tough electoral map in 2016 but also as the party tries to position itself against presumptive Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Clinton already has faced pressure from some Democrats to jump into the race soon to rally the party in the face of yesterday's losses. Her advisers say she is likely to stick to her plans to announce early next year.

"Republicans will make a huge mistake if they believe that tonight's victories indicate a mandate for a return to trickle- down economics and political witch hunts," said South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison. "The party of 'No' must now lead, and if they don't then the 2016 political pendulum will swing back so hard that they will have a bad case of whiplash."

With assistance from Kathleen Hunter in Washington.

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