Life About to Be Quite Difficult for Obama

Republicans rode a wave of voter discontent to seize control of the U.S. Senate, dealing a punishing blow to PresidentBarack Obama that will limit his legislative agenda and may force him to make a course correction for his last two years in office.

The Republican rout on Tuesday was wide and deep in what was bound to be seen as a sharp rebuke to Obama, who has lurched from crisis to crisis and whose unpopularity made him unwelcome to Democratic candidates in many contested states.

Obama, who watched election returns from the White House and saw little to warm his spirits, scheduled a news conference for 2:50 p.m. EST (1950 GMT) on Wednesday. He invited Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to the White House on Friday to take stock of the new political landscape.