will return to the u.s. senate for a fourth term. boxer defeated former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina after a hard-fought, multi-million dollar campaign. president and mrs. obama were among the high-profile democrats who campaigned for boxer's re-election. it could be weeks before we know who has won the alaska senate race. write-in ballots hold the early lead, which is considered a good sign for incumbent republican lisa murkowski. she lost the primary to republican joe miller. all the write-in ballots must be counted by hand. several minority candidates rode the republican wave to victory. tim scott will be the first black gop congressman from south carolina since reconstruction. scott had been backed by both the tea party and by sarah palin. republicans also swept up power in many of the 37 governors' races around the country. the gop gained control in at least ten state houses that were previously held by the democrats. voters in south carolina elected republican nikki haley as that state's first female governor.

she ran with support from sarah palin. and she will be the nation's second indian-american governor along with louisiana's bobby jindal. haley replaces scandal-plagued governor mark sanford. >> in texas they have re-elected republican governor rick perry to an unprecedented third full term. harry defeated former houston mayor bill white. during his campaign perry linked white to president obama. and appealed to voters' anger about the economy. >> and in california, jerry brown is going back to the governor's mansion. the 72-year-old democrat defeated republican meg whitman, who spent $160 million on the race. most of it her own money. brown also served as california's governor from 1975 through 1983. president obama and the democrats focused on younger voters before the election. but our exit polls show the majority of midterm voters were 45 years or older. just an estimated 11% of

tuesday's ballots were from voters age 29 or younger. exit polls also show 28% of the voters consider themselves independent. republicans and democrats showed up in what appear right now to be equal numbers. another interesting finding from our exit polls. 41% of voters said their financial situation is worse now than it was two years ago. and they favored republicans by nearly 30%. ron claiborne took a look at final efforts to reach those voters and what they say they really want. >> happy election day! >> go, meg, go! >> good morning. >> reporter: election day 2010. the candidates of course pronounced their optimism. >> we're looking forward to victory tonight. >> reporter: there were final rallies. senator patty murray campaigning before dawn in seattle. >> i'm focused on getting through the next 12 hours here, talking to as many voters as possible. >> reporter: and while bill clinton was calling cleveland radio shows, targeting stations

with young listeners -- a key part of the democratic base. >> i hope the young people listening to me, even if you don't agree with me, get out and vote today. >> hello, how are you? >> reporter: sarah palin was also on the radio targeting conservative voters. >> the gop has to understand, the machine has to understand we're not sending republicans, commonsense conservatives, to d.c. to sing kumbaya with obama. we're sending them to stop obama. >> reporter: more than 500 senate, house, and governor races now in the hands of the voters. >> big decisions to be made. >> reporter: the mood, very different from two years ago. from pennsylvania to kentucky, all over the country, more blame than hope. the crushing economy. partisan fissures. dysfunctional government. >> what's your mood on this election day? >> scared. >> i'm more apprehensive about what's going on, you know. >> about what? >> all the fighting between parties. >> there's just too much theater. >> i'm voting against a lot of things this year. >> reporter: we asked voters

around the country to sum up in one word what they want most from washington. >> cooperation. >> unity. >> faith. >> health care. >> peace. >> stability. >> statesmanship. >> equity. >> harmony. >> open-minded. >> employment. >> term limits. >> talking to voters, one senses they are weary of partisan division, weary of hard economic times. but not so weary that they didn't come out on tuesday to vote. ron claiborne, abc news, allentown, pennsylvania. the president himself will address the mood of the voters today. those pending changes coming to capitol hill. president obama's post midterm election news conference will start at 1:00 p.m. eastern time today. check that out right here on abc news. coming up, big hangups on election day leading to frustration at the polls. a revelation about the 2004 presidential election and one big name that was almost left off the ballot. hó you go next if you had a

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welcome back, everyone. the midterm elections did have a few problems. voters in connecticut's largest city had two extra hours to make their picks. a dozen precincts in bridgeport ran out of scanner ballots, forcing some voters to wait in very long lines there. a judge ordered those precincts to remain open until 10:00 p.m. instead of closing at 8:00 as scheduled. ballot problems had election workers out in california putting in overtime as well. they were forced to use rubber erasers to remove smudges from mail-in ballots. they say the extraneous marks from printer toner were throwing off the optical scan ballot reading machines. in other political news this morning, president bush writes in his new memoir that he considered dumping dick cheney from the ticket in 2004. mr. bush said making such a change would have demonstrated that he was in charge. cheney had also become a lightning rod for criticism from the left and the media.

but in the end mr. bush said he realized he could trust cheney and decided to keep him as vice president. now the other big stories of the day. that terror plot involving cargo planes is now raising some troubling new questions about a fiery u.p.s. plane crash two months ago. martha raddatz has learned what was on that plane when it went down. >> reporter: it has always been a mystery. now even more so. the 747 u.p.s. plane took off from dubai on september 3rd. just 25 minutes into the flight, pilots noticed smoke and a fire indicator in the cargo area. the plane turned back, but crashed before reaching the airport. the initial investigation indicated lithium batteries on board may have ignited. although no one could determine how. abc news has learned there were packages from yemen on board the flight, although they were not thought to be in the same area

where the fire began. but many questions remain, and one official told me, we may never know what happened. in yemen, thousands of yemeni forces were looking for bombmaker ibrahim asiri, seen hugging his younger brother before sending him on a suicide mission, later listening to the explosion from a cell phone. the yemenis insist they will find asiri. u.s. officials are skeptical. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. at the supreme court, justices must now decide if a california law which bans the sale of violent video games to minors is constitutional. >> observers say they appear closely split after hearing arguments in the case. diana alvear has the details. good morning, diana. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning. this particular case is about so much more than just children and violent video games. in fact, it's one that everyone in the entertainment world is following very closely, because they know whatever the court decides it will have

wide-ranging implications. does banning the sale of violent video games protect children or violate freedom of speech? that's the question before the supreme court. justices are debating the constitutionality of a california law that made it illegal to sell or rent these kinds of games to minors. the law's supporters say these games could cause psychological harm and encourage aggressive behavior. so far, it's been struck down by two lower courts. >> the court has to decide does it really want to be in some ways a nanny for things like video games or newly emerging technologies and internet sorts of expression. and i think the court in prior cases signaled it really would not like to be in that position. >> reporter: tuesday some justices expressed concern over whether the law was too broad in scope, noting that other forms of entertainment such as books and movies are also violent.

the gaming industry has made the same argument for years. >> parents are a better judge of what is appropriate for their homes, not government. >> reporter: still others, including chief justice john roberts, pointed out some of these games allow participants to dismember, sexually assault, and even urinate on other characters. deviant acts from which they said children deserved to be protected. the law's supporters say if the high court rules against them they'll try to rewrite the law to make it more narrow in scope. the court is expected to issue a ruling in the case next june. vinita, rob? now here's a look at your wednesday weather. heavy rain with flooding from houston to the florida panhandle. showers from tallahassee to miami, moving into georgia, the carolinas, and southern virginia this afternoon. cool and breezy with showers from duluth to detroit. >> mostly 50s from fargo to minneapolis. 48 boston. 54 new york. a wet 78 in new orleans. 90 in phoenix. 76 in sacramento. and 60s from seattle to albuquerque. and now to the other big story of the day.

another surprise elimination on "dancing with the stars." after earning his highest score yet, former baller rick fox has bowed out. >> fox and his partner became the seventh couple to be bounced from the dance floor. he called his experience amazing and compared the stress of the show to being on the free-throw line during the game seven of the nba champiop. he earned green giant for that outfit and i think you can see why. coming up next, california voters' decision on recreational marijuana. and facecececececececececece

welcome back. smoking pot recreationally will remain illegal in california. voters have defeated proposition 19 which would have allowed marijuana to be sold and smoked in small amounts. even though the issue gained nationwide attention, very little money was spent in the state to get the measure passed. well, we've covered the election results from california all the way to the carolinas. and election night has received nearly unprecedented coverage, particularly over the internet. our david muir's at arizona state university where he watched the returns in a very tech-savvy town hall meeting. >> vinita and rob, this is a town hall, obviously, unprecedented for abc news to team up with facebook in this way. tonight they sort of unveil

technology never used before, actually tracking races in realtime. one of the things that we did was asked them to compare the abc news projection map, this was based on polling and all the data we've sort of pulled together in the few weeks before the midterms, with what they put together. you had your own sort of map forecasting the outcome tonight. how'd you do it? >> we're taking a look at which candidates had the most "likes" on facebook in the different hot races. what we found is in 16 of the 20 races we were looking at, we were actually able to accurately predict the results based on facebook. >> we knew the overnight broadcast is tracking overnight headlines and we are here too as well. i've asked some of the students here at asu to sort of weigh in with how different websites. you're on? >> i'm on slate. >> on slate? >> the headline is dear tea party, thanks for the senate, love, the democrats. >> you're on drudge, what do they have? >> i'm on drudge report and it says, on second thought, has president obama pretty -- giving the look. when we return, how this

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go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil. and finally on this post-election morning, name-calling and politics have gone hand in hand for generations. >> this year, candidates may have reached a new high, or should we say low, on the mud-slinging meter. john berman takes a look back at some of the more colorful phrases of this campaign season. >> reporter: this will forever be known as the campaign that brought us a new breed of sheep. >> a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> reporter: a new type of hydration. >> introducing sharron angle's crazy juice! >> reporter: a new way to veto legislation. >> and i'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill. >> reporter: it will forever be the campaign where slogans were turned upside down. >> how is that hopey changey thing working out for you? >> reporter: can we believe she said that? >> yes, we can.

but -- >> reporter: but it might not be as bad as what the president heard from supporters. >> i'm exhausted of defending you. >> reporter: even candidates from his own party. >> take your endorsement and shove it. >> reporter: we had some of the most profound declarations in campaign history. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: and -- >> rent is too damn high. >> reporter: we can all agree on both those points, right? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but we also heard sharron angle tell her opponent to -- >> man up. >> reporter: and vice president biden tell democrats to -- >> get up. >> reporter: it's the campaign where republicans called independents bad names. >> i've never had a heckler -- >> reporter: democrats called republicans bad names. >> she's a whore. >> reporter: politicians called reporters bad names. >> those are corrupt bastards, chris. that's what is wrong with the media today. >> reporter: if reporters are so bad, why does everyone want to bring us places? >> i'll take you out, buddy. >> reporter: that kind of

language can get your hair out of place. >> we saw barbara boxer briefly on television this morning and said what everyone said, god, what is that hair? >> reporter: the bickering gets you down? maybe you should -- >> man up. >> reporter: or -- >> get up. >> man up. >> get up. >> man up. >> get up. >> reporter: or perhaps listen to this former madame who wants to be a governor. >> the career politicians in albany are the biggest whores in this state. i might be the only person sitting on this stage with the right experience to deal with them. >> reporter: vote 2010. can we finally move on? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: john berman, abc news, in new york. >> certainly was an interesting night last night. of course, the republicans really riding a wave of voter discontent. and of course we'll be hearing from the president this afternoon at about 1:00. >> political pendulum swings yet again in this country. you can stay with abc news throughout the morning for continuing political insight and analysis. >> we'll take you live to washington on "america this

morning" and o n n n n n n n n n

the voters have spoken, and change is coming once again to the nation's capital. >> tonight there's a tea party tidal wave and we're sending a message. >> with tonight's results, the majority in the u.s. house of representatives is shifting. congress is changing direction. the question is, will the executive branch adjust its course? >> what will republicans do with their newfound power in congress? >> across the country right now, we're witnessing a repudiation of washington. a repudiation of big government. and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the american people. i've spent my whole life chasing the american dream. >> it's a huge message sent.

it is a shakeup. we're going to see a shakeup in the senate too. >> how will democrats respond? >> i feel frustration because i think this congress and this president have done great things. the student loan reform, the credit card reform. so many great things for america that they're not getting credit for. it's our fault. mine, too. we haven't made our case successfully. >> the mood of the voters. what was on your mind when you went to the polls? >> i'm more apprehensive about what's going on. >> scared. >> i'm voting against a lot of things this year. >> harmony. >> open-minded. >> employment. >> term limits. >> why this could have been the nastiest campaign season in many years. >> introducing sharron angle's crazy juice! >> fiscal conservative in name only. a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> and maybe the funniest. >> i'm not a witch.

>> rent is too damn high! >> from abc news headquarters in new york, this is a vote 2010 special edition of "world news now," with vinita nair and rob nelson. >> nastiest, funniest, most costly. so many superlatives after an exciting night. the end is finally here in an extraordinary political season. >> good morning and thanks for being with us. president obama and republican leaders are already promising to work together now that the bruising and bitter campaign is over. >> that's going to be a very difficult challenge, given the size and the strength of the republican victory tonight at the polls. john hendren is joining us from washington with a roundup of the major gop victories. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. it's now clear democrats will maintain control of the senate. but in the house it is another story. they are poised for the biggest losses in a midterm election since 1938.

a loss of 60 to 70 seats. that will put republicans in charge there and give them a commanding majority. it is a colossal transfer of power. beginning in january, republicans will control the house. republicans, especially tea party republicans, are toasting what they're calling a message from the american people. >> for far too long, washington's been doing what's best for washington, not what's best for the american people. and tonight, that begins to change. >> reporter: in the home of the kentucky derby, tea party favorite rand paul edged past democrat jack conway. in florida, republican tea party favorite marco rubio won in a three-way race against independent governor charlie crist and democrat hendrick meek. in a humiliating symbol for democrats, republican mark kirk defeated alexi giannoulias in illinois. handing president obama's old senate seat to a republican. but democrats held on to some key seats. in nevada, the endangered senate majority leader harry reid fended off republican sharron angle. in delaware, another tea party

hopeful, republican christine o'donnell, was defeated by democrat chris coons. in connecticut, democrat richard blumenthal eked out a win against tea party candidate and former world wrestling ceo linda mcmahon. >> what the republicans need to do is reach out to the democrats, reach out to the white house, and say, hey, the train is leaving the station, come on board, we invite you to come on board but we're heading in a different direction. >> reporter: for some, disaster. for others, disaster averted. the change of power in the house means the next house speaker will almost certainly be ohio republican john boehner. a man nearly as controversial as the current house speaker, nancy pelosi. rob and vinita? >> as mentioned, democrats did manage to maintain control of the senate, thanks in large part to some big wins out in the west. in nevada, senate leader harry reid did beat back a strong challenge from tea party star sharron angle. reid, of course, struggled for months in a state with the nation's highest unemployment and with voters extremely angry at washington insiders.

and in california, barbara boxer will return to the u.s. senate for a fourth term. boxer defeated former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina after a hard-fought, multi-million dollar campaign. president and mrs. obama were among the high-profile democrats who campaigned for boxer's re-election. it could be weeks before we know who has won the alaska senate race. write-in ballots hold the early lead, which is considered a good sign for incumbent republican lisa murkowski. she lost the primary to republican joe miller. all the write-in ballots must be counted by hand. several minority candidates rode the republican wave to victory. tim scott will be the first black gop congressman from south carolina since reconstruction. scott had been backed by both the tea party and by sarah palin. republicans also swept to power in many of the 37 governors' races around the country. the gop gained control in at least ten state houses that were previously held by the democrats. voters in south carolina elected republican nikki haley as that

state's first female governor. she ran with support from sarah palin, and she will be the nation's second indian-american governor along with louisiana's bobby jindal. haley replaces scandal-plagued governor mark sanford. >> in texas they have re-elected republican governor rick perry to an unprecedented third full term. perry defeated former houston mayor bill white. during his campaign perry linked white with president obama and appealed to voters' anger about the economy. and in california, jerry brown is going back to the governor's mansion. the 72-year-old democrat defeated republican meg whitman, who spent $160 million on the race, most of it her own money. brown also served as california's governor from 1975 through 1983. president obama and the democrats focused on younger voters before the election. but our exit polls show the majority of midterm voters were 45 years or older. just an estimated 11% of tuesday's ballots were from voters age 29 or younger. exit polls also show 28% of the voters consider themselves

independent. republicans and democrats showed up in what appear right now to be equal numbers. another interesting finding from our exit polls. 41% of voters said their financial situation is worse now than it was two years ago. and they favored republicans by nearly 30%. ron claiborne took a look at final efforts to reach those voters and what they say they really want. >> happy election day! >> go, meg, go! >> good morning. >> reporter: election day 2010. the candidates of course pronounced their optimism. >> we're looking forward to victory tonight. >> reporter: there were final rallies. senator patty murray campaigning before dawn in seattle. >> i'm focused on getting through the next 12 hours here, talking to as many voters as possible. >> reporter: and while bill clinton was calling cleveland radio shows, targeting stations with young listeners -- a key

part of the democratic base. >> i hope the young people listening to me, even if you don't agree with me, get out and vote today. >> hello, how are you? >> reporter: sarah palin was also on the radio targeting conservative voters. >> the gop has to understand, the machine has to understand we're not sending republicans, commonsense conservatives, to d.c. to sing kumbaya with obama. we're sending them to stop obama. >> reporter: more than 500 senate, house, and governor races now in the hands of the voters. >> big decisions to be made. >> reporter: the mood, very different from two years ago. from pennsylvania to kentucky, all over the country, more blame than hope. the crushing economy. partisan fissures. dysfunctional government. >> what's your mood on this election day? >> scared. >> i'm more apprehensive about what's going on, you know. >> about what? >> all the fighting between parties. >> there's just too much theater. >> i'm voting against a lot of things this year. >> reporter: we asked voters around the country to sum up in one word what they want most from washington. >> cooperation.

>> unity. >> faith. >> health care. >> peace. >> stability. >> statesmanship. >> equity. >> harmony. >> open-minded. >> employment. >> term limits. >> talking to voters, one senses they are weary of partisan division, weary of hard economic times. but not so weary that they didn't come out on tuesday to vote. ron claiborne, abc news, allentown, pennsylvania. the president himself will address the mood of the voters today. those pending changes coming to capitol hill. president obama's post midterm election news conference will start at 1:00 p.m. eastern time today. check that out right here on abc news. coming up, big hangups on election day leading to frustration at the polls. a revelation about the 2004 presidential election and one big name that was almost left presidential election and one big name that was almost left off the ballot. an aarp... i realized i n medicare supplement nsurance card, too.

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>> welcome back. the midterm elections did have a few problems. voters in connecticut's largest city had two extra hours to make their picks. a dozen precincts in bridgeport ran out of scanner ballots, forcing some voters to wait in very long lines there. a judge ordered those precincts to remain open until 10:00 p.m. instead of closing at 8:00 as scheduled. ballot problems had election workers out in california putting in overtime as well. they were forced to use rubber erasers to remove smudges from mail-in ballots. they say the extraneous marks from printer toner were throwing off the optical scan ballot reading machines. in other political news this morning, president bush writes in his new memoir that he considered dumping dick cheney from the ticket in 2004. mr. bush said making such a change would have demonstrated that he was in charge. cheney had also become a lightning rod for criticism from the left and the media. but in the end mr. bush said he

realized he could trust cheney and decided to keep him as vice president. now the other big stories of the day. that terror plot involving cargo planes is now raising some troubling new questions about a fiery u.p.s. plane crash two months ago. martha raddatz has learned what was on that plane when it went down. >> reporter: it has always been a mystery, but now even more so. the 747 u.p.s. plane took off from dubai on september 3rd. just 25 minutes into the flight, pilots noticed smoke and a fire indicator in the cargo area. the plane turned back, but crashed before reaching the airport. the initial investigation indicated lithium batteries on board may have ignited. although no one could determine how. abc news has learned there were packages from yemen on board the flight, although they were not thought to be in the same area where the fire began. but many questions remain, and

one official told me, we may never know what happened. in yemen, thousands of yemeni forces were looking for bombmaker ibrahim asiri, seen hugging his younger brother before sending him on a suicide mission, and later listening to the explosion from a cell phone. the yemenis insist they will find asiri. u.s. officials are skeptical. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. at the supreme court, justices must now decide if a california law which bans the sale of violent video games to minors is constitutional. >> observers say they appear closely split after hearing arguments in the case. diana alvear has the details. good morning, diana. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning. this particular case is about so much more than just children and violent video games. in fact, it's one that everyone in the entertainment world is following very closely, because they know whatever the court decides it will have wide-ranging implications. does banning the sale of violent video games protect children or violate freedom of speech? that's the question before the

supreme court. justices are debating the constitutionality of a california law that made it illegal to sell or rent these kinds of games to minors. the law's supporters say these games could cause psychological harm and encourage aggressive behavior. so far, it's been struck down by two lower courts. >> the court has to decide does it really want to be in some ways a nanny for things like video games or newly emerging technologies and internet sorts of expression. and i think the court in prior cases signaled it really would not like to be in that position. >> reporter: tuesday some justices expressed concern over whether the law was too broad in scope, noting that other forms of entertainment such as books and movies are also violent. the gaming industry has made the same argument for years. >> parents are a better judge of what is appropriate for their homes, not government. >> reporter: still others, including chief justice john roberts, pointed out some of

these games allow participants to dismember, sexually assault, and even urinate on other characters. deviant acts from which they said children deserved to be protected. the law's supporters say if the high court rules against them they'll try to rewrite the law to make it more narrow in scope. the court is expected to issue a ruling in the case next june. vinita, rob? now here's a look at your wednesday weather. heavy rain with flooding from houston to the florida panhandle. showers from tallahassee to miami, moving into georgia, the carolinas, and southern virginia this afternoon. cool and breezy with showers from duluth to detroit. >> mostly 50s from fargo to minneapolis. 48 boston. 54 new york. a wet 78 in new orleans. 90 in phoenix. 76 in sacramento. and 60s from seattle to albuquerque. and now to the other big

story of the day. another surprise elimination on "dancing with the stars." after earning his highest score yet, former baller rick fox has fouled out. >> fox and his partner became the seventh couple to be bounced from the dance floor. he called his experience amazing and compared the stress of the show to being on the free-throw line during the game seven of the nba championship. he earned the nickname jolly green giant for that outfit and i think you can see why. coming up next, california voters' decision on recreational marijuana. and facebook's impact on election day. you're watchchchchchchchchchchch

welcome back. smoking pot recreationally will remain illegal in california. voters have defeated proposition 19 which would have allowed marijuana to be sold and smoked in small amounts. even though the issue gained nationwide attention, very little money was spent in the state to get the measure passed. well, we've covered the election results from california all the way to the carolinas. and election night has received nearly unprecedented coverage, particularly over the internet. our david muir's at arizona state university where he watched the returns in a very tech-savvy town hall meeting. >> vinita and rob, this is a town hall, obviously, unprecedented for abc news to team up with facebook in this way. tonight they sort of unveiled technology never used before,

actually tracking races in realtime. one of the things that we did was asked them to compare the abc news projection map, this was based on polling and all the data we've sort of pulled together in the few weeks before the midterms, with what they put together. you had your own sort of map forecasting the outcome tonight. how'd you do it? >> we're taking a look at which candidates had the most "likes" on facebook in the different hot races. what we found is in 16 of the 20 races we were looking at, we were actually able to accurately predict the results based on facebook. >> we knew the overnight broadcast is tracking overnight headlines and we are here too as well. i've asked some of the students here at asu to sort of weigh in with how different websites -- you're on? >> i'm on slate. >> on slate? >> the headline is dear tea party, thanks for the senate, love, the democrats. >> you're on drudge, what do they have? >> i'm on drudge report and it says, on second thought, has president obama pretty -- giving the look.

when we return, how this campaign compares to those in the past. >> be right back. did you know prilosec otc

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and finally on this post-election morning, name-calling and politics have gone hand in hand for generations. >> this year candidates may have reached a new high, or should we say low, on the mud-slinging meter. john berman takes a look back at some of the more colorful phrases of this campaign season. >> reporter: this will forever be known as the campaign that brought us a new breed of sheep. >> a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> reporter: a new type of hydration. >> introducing sharron angle's crazy juice! >> reporter: a new way to veto legislation. >> and i'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill. >> reporter: it will forever be the campaign where slogans were turned upside down. >> how is that hopey changey thing working out for you? >> reporter: can we believe she said that? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but it might not be as bad as what the president heard from supporters. >> i'm exhausted of defending you. >> reporter: even candidates from his own party. >> take the endorsement and

shove it. >> reporter: we had some of the most profound declarations in campaign history. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: and -- >> rent is too damn high. >> reporter: we can all agree on both those points, right? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but we also heard sharron angle tell her opponent to -- >> man up. >> reporter: and vice president biden tell democrats to -- >> get up. >> reporter: it's the campaign where republicans called independents bad names. >> i've never had a heckler -- >> reporter: democrats called republicans bad names. >> she's a whore. >> reporter: politicians called reporters bad names. >> those are corrupt bastards, chris. that's what is wrong with the media today. >> reporter: if reporters are so bad, why does everyone want to bring us places? >> i'll take you out, buddy. >> reporter: that kind of language can get your hair out of place. >> we saw barbara boxer briefly on television this morning and said what everyone said, god, what is that hair? >> reporter: the bickering gets you down? maybe you should -- >> man up. >> reporter: or -- >> get up. >> man up. >> get up. >> man up. >> get up.

>> reporter: or perhaps listen to this former madame who wants to be a governor. >> the career politicians in albany are the biggest whores in this state. i might be the only person sitting on this stage with the right experience to deal with them. >> reporter: vote 2010. can we finally move on? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: john berman, abc news, in new york. >> certainly was an interesting night last night. of course, the republicans really riding a wave of voter discontent. and of course we'll be hearing from the president this afternoon at about 1:00. >> political pendulum swings yet again in this country. you can stay with abc news throughout the morning for continuing political insight and analysis.

>> we'll take you live to washington on "a"a"a"a"a"a"a"a"c

the voters have spoken, and change is coming once again to the nation's capital. >> tonight there's a tea party tidal wave and we're sending a message. >> with tonight's results, the majority in the u.s. house of representatives is shifting. congress is changing direction. the question is, will the executive branch adjust its course? >> what will republicans do with their newfound power in congress? >> across the country right now, we're witnessing a repudiation of washington. a repudiation of big government. and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the american people. i've spent my whole life chasing

the american dream. >> it's a huge message sent. it is a shakeup. we're going to see a shakeup in the senate too. >> how will democrats respond? >> i feel frustration because i think this congress and this president have done great things. the student loan reform, the credit card reform. so many great things for america that they're not getting credit for. it's our fault. mine, too. we haven't made our case successfully. >> the mood of the voters. what was on your mind when you went to the polls? >> i'm more apprehensive about what's going on. >> scared. >> i'm voting against a lot of things this year. >> harmony. >> open-minded. >> employment. >> term limits. >> why this could have been the nastiest campaign season in many years. >> introducing sharron angle's crazy juice! >> fiscal conservative in name only. a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> and maybe the funniest.

>> i'm not a witch. >> rent is too damn high! >> from abc news headquarters in new york, this is a vote 2010 special edition of "world news now," with vinita nair and rob nelson. >> nastiest, funniest, most costly. so many superlatives after an exciting night. the end is finally here in an extraordinary political season. >> good morning and thanks for being with us. president obama and republican leaders are already promising to work together now that the bruising and bitter campaign is over. >> that's going to be a very difficult challenge, given the size and the strength of the republican victory tonight at the polls. john hendren is joining us from washington with a roundup of the major gop victories. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. it's now clear democrats will maintain control of the senate. but in the house it is another story. they are poised for the biggest losses in a midterm election

since 1938. a loss of 60 to 70 seats. that will put republicans in charge there and give them a commanding majority. it is a colossal transfer of power. beginning in january, republicans will control the house. republicans, especially tea party republicans, are toasting what they're calling a message from the american people. >> for far too long, washington's been doing what's best for washington, not what's st for he an pele.&, not what's han. crat jac conway. in floria, repf1o ky ses. fended off republican sharron utheked out win ican sharron forer world wrestling ceo linda mcmahon. >> what the republicans need to do is reach out to the democrats, reach out to the white house, and say, hey, the train is leaving the station, come on board, we invite you to come on board but we're heading in a different direction. >> reporter: for some, disaster. for others, disaster averted. the change of power in the house means the next house speaker will almost certainly be ohio

republican john boehner. a man nearly as controversial as the current house speaker, nancy pelosi. rob and vinita? >> as mentioned, democrats did manage to maintain control of the senate, thanks in large part to some big wins out in the west. in nevada, senate leader harry reid did beat back a strong challenge from tea party star sharron angle. reid, of course, struggled for months in a state with the nation's highest unemployment and with voters extremely angry at washington insiders. and in california, barbara boxer will return to the u.s. senate for a fourth term. boxer defeated former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina after a hard-fought, multi-million dollar campaign. president and mrs. obama were among the high-profile democrats who campaigned for boxer's re-election. it could be weeks before we know who has won the alaska senate race. write-in ballots hold the early lead, which is considered a good sign for incumbent republican

lisa murkowski. she lost the primary to republican joe miller. all the write-in ballots must be counted by hand. several minority candidates rode the republican wave to victory. tim scott will be the first black gop congressman from south carolina since reconstruction. scott had been backed by both the tea party and by sarah palin. republicans also swept up power in many of the 37 governors' races around the country. the gop gained control in at least ten state houses that were previously held by the democrats. voters in south carolina elected republican nikki haley as that state's first female governor. she ran with support from sarah palin. and she will be the nation's second indian-american governor along with louisiana's bobby jindal. haley replaces scandal-plagued governor mark sanford. >> in texas they have re-elected republican governor rick perry to an unprecedented third full term. harry defeated former houston mayor bill white. during his campaign perry linked white to president obama. and appealed to voters' anger about the economy. >> and in california, jerry brown is going back to the governor's mansion. the 72-year-old democrat defeated republican meg whitman, who spent $160 million on the race. most of it her own money. brown also served as california's governor from 1975 through 1983. president obama and the democrts focused o younr tuesy's ballots n stimted f- indendent.f1o-ouer. republicans and democrats showed up in what appear right now to be equal numbers. another interesting finding from our exit polls. 41% of voters said their financial situation is worse now than it was two years ago. and they favored republicans by nearly 30%.

ron claiborne took a look at final efforts to reach those voters and what they say they really want. >> happy election day! >> go, meg, go! >> good morning. >> reporter: election day 2010. the candidates of course pronounced their optimism. >> we're looking forward to victory tonight. >> reporter: there were final rallies. senator patty murray campaigning before dawn in seattle. >> i'm focused on getting through the next 12 hours here, talking to as many voters as possible. >> reporter: and while bill clinton was calling cleveland radio shows, targeting stations with young listeners -- a key part of the democratic base. >> i hope the young people listening to me, even if you don't agree with me, get out and vote today. >> hello, how are you? >> reporter: sarah palin was also on the radio targeting conservative voters. >> the gop has to understand, the machine has to understand we're not sending republicans, commonsense conservatives, to d.c. to sing kumbaya with obama. we're sending them to stop obama. >> reporter: more than 500 senate, house, and governor races now in the hands of the voters. >> big decisions to be made. >> reporter: the mood, very different from two years ago. from pennsylvania to kentucky, all over the country, more blame than hope. the crushing economy. partisan fissures. dysfunctional government. >> what's your mood on this election day? >> scared.

>> i'm more apprehensive about ron claiborne took a look at final efforts to reach those voters and what they say they really want. >> happy election day! >> reporter: election day 2010. the candidates of course pronounced their optimism. >> we're looking forward to victory tonight. >> reporter: there were final rallies. senator patty murray campaigning before dawn in seattle. >> i'm focused on getting through the next 12 hours here, talking to as many voters as possible. >> reporter: and while bill clinton was calling cleveland radio shows, targeting stations with young listeners -- a key part of the democratic base. >> i hope the young people listening to me, even if you don't agree with me, get out and

vote today. >> hello, how are you? >> reporter: sarah palin was also on the radio targeting conservative voters. >> the gop has to understand, the machine has to understand we're not sending republicans, commonsense conservatives, to d.c. to sing kumbaya with obama. we're sending them to stop obama. >> reporter: more than 500 senate, house, and governor races now in the hands of the voters. >> big decisions to be made. >> reporter: the mood, very different from two years ago. from pennsylvania to kentucky, all over the country, more blame than hope. the crushing economy. partisan fissures. dysfunctional government. >> what's your mood on this election day? >> scared. >> i'm more apprehensive about what's going on, you know. >> about what? >> all the fighting between parties. >> there's just too much theater. >> i'm voting against a lot of things this year. >> reporter: we asked voters around the country to sum up in one word what they want most from washington. >> cooperation. >> unity. >> faith.

>> health care. >> peace. >> stability. >> statesmanship. >> equity. >> harmony. >> open-minded. >> employment. >> term limits. >> talking to voters, one senses they are weary of partisan division, weary of hard economic times. but not so weary that they didn't come out on tuesday to vote. ron claiborne, abc news, allentown, pennsylvania. the president himself will address the mood of the voters today. those pending changes coming to capitol hill. president obama's post midterm election news conference will start at 1:00 p.m. eastern time today. check that out right here on abc news. coming up, big hangups on election day leading to frustration at the polls. a revelation about the 2004 presidential election and one big name that was almost left off the ballot. ♪

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welcome back, everyone. the midterm elections did have a few problems. voters in connecticut's largest city had two extra hours to make their picks. a dozen precincts in bridgeport ran out of scanner ballots, forcing some voters to wait in very long lines there. a judge ordered those precincts to remain open until 10:00 p.m. instead of closing at 8:00 as scheduled. ballot problems had election workers out in california putting in overtime as well. they were forced to use rubber erasers to remove smudges from mail-in ballots. they say the extraneous marks from printer toner were throwing off the optical scan ballot reading machines. in other political news this morning, president bush writes in his new memoir that he considered dumping dick cheney from the ticket in 2004. mr. bush said making such a change would have demonstrated that he was in charge. cheney had also become a lightning rod for criticism from the left and the media. but in the end mr. bush said he realized he could trust cheney and decided to keep him as vice president. now the other big stories of

the day. that terror plot involving cargo planes is now raising some troubling new questions about a fiery u.p.s. plane crash two months ago. martha raddatz has learned what was on that plane when it went down. >> reporter: it has always been a mystery. now even more so. the 747 u.p.s. plane took off from dubai on september 3rd. just 25 minutes into the flight, pilots noticed smoke and a fire indicator in the cargo area. the plane turned back, but crashed before reaching the airport. the initial investigation indicated lithium batteries on board may have ignited. although no one could determine how. abc news has learned there were packages from yemen on board the flight, although they were not thought to be in the same area where the fire began. but many questions remain, and one official told me, we may never know what happened. in yemen, thousands of yemeni forces were looking for

bombmaker ibrahim asiri, seen hugging his younger brother before sending him on a suicide mission, later listening to the explosion from a cell phone. the yemenis insist they will find asiri. u.s. officials are skeptical. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. at the supreme court, justices must now decide if a california law which bans the sale of violent video games to minors is constitutional. >> observers say they appear closely split after hearing arguments in the case. diana alvear has the details. good morning, diana. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning. this particular case is about so much more than just children and violent video games. in fact, it's one that everyone in the entertainment world is following very closely, because they know whatever the court decides it will have wide-ranging implications. does banning the sale of violent video games protect children or violate freedom of speech? that's the question before the supreme court. justices are debating the constitutionality of a california law that made it illegal to sell or rent these kinds of games to minors.

the law's supporters say these games could cause psychological harm and encourage aggressive behavior. so far, it's been struck down by two lower courts. >> the court has to decide does it really want to be in some ways a nanny for things like video games or newly emerging technologies and internet sorts of expression. and i think the court in prior cases signaled it really would not like to be in that position. >> reporter: tuesday some justices expressed concern over whether the law was too broad in scope, noting that other forms of entertainment such as books and movies are also violent. the gaming industry has made the same argument for years. >> parents are a better judge of what is appropriate for their homes, not government. >> reporter: still others, including chief justice john roberts, pointed out some of these games allow participants to dismember, sexually assault, and even urinate on other

characters. deviant acts from which they said children deserved to be protected. the law's supporters say if the high court rules against them they'll try to rewrite the law to make it more narrow in scope. the court is expected to issue a ruling in the case next june. vinita, rob? now here's a look at your wednesday weather. heavy rain with flooding from houston to the florida panhandle. showers from tallahassee to miami, moving into georgia, the carolinas, and southern virginia this afternoon. cool and breezy with showers from duluth to detroit. >> mostly 50s from fargo to minneapolis. 48 boston. 54 new york. a wet 78 in new orleans. 90 in phoenix. 76 in sacramento. and 60s from seattle to albuquerque. and now to the other big story of the day. another surprise elimination on "dancing with the stars." after earning his highest score yet, former baller rick fox has bowed out. >> fox and his partner became the seventh couple to be bounced from the dance floor. he called his experience amazing and compared the stress of the

show to being on the free-throw line during the game seven of the nba championship. he earned the nickname jolly green giant for that outfit and i think you can see why. coming up next, california voters' decision on recreational marijuana. and facebook's impact on election day. you're watching "world news now." @c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c@c'

welcome back. smoking pot recreationally will remain illegal in california. voters have defeated proposition 19 which would have allowed marijuana to be sold and smoked in small amounts. even though the issue gained nationwide attention, very little money was spent in the state to get the measure passed. well, we've covered the election results from california all the way to the carolinas. and election night has received nearly unprecedented coverage, particularly over the internet. our david muir's at arizona state university where he watched the returns in a very tech-savvy town hall meeting. >> vinita and rob, this is a town hall, obviously, unprecedented for abc news to team up with facebook in this

way. tonight they sort of unveil technology never used before, actually tracking races in realtime. one of the things that we did was asked them to compare the abc news projection map, this was based on polling and all the data we've sort of pulled together in the few weeks before the midterms, with what they put together. you had your own sort of map forecasting the outcome tonight. how'd you do it? >> we're taking a look at which candidates had the most "likes" on facebook in the different hot races. what we found is in 16 of the 20 races we were looking at, we were actually able to accurately predict the results based on facebook. >> we knew the overnight broadcast is tracking overnight headlines and we are here too as well. i've asked some of the students here at asu to sort of weigh in with how different websites. you're on? >> i'm on slate. >> on slate? >> the headline is dear tea party, thanks for the senate, love, the democrats. >> you're on drudge, what do they have? >> i'm on drudge report and it says, on second thought, has president obama pretty -- giving the look. when we return, how this campaign compares to those in the past. >> be right back.

and finally on this post-election morning, name-calling and politics have gone hand in hand for generations. >> this year, candidates may have reached a new high, or should we say low, on the mud-slinging meter. john berman takes a look back at some of the more colorful phrases of this campaign season. >> reporter: this will forever be known as the campaign that brought us a new breed of sheep. >> a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> reporter: a new type of hydration. >> introducing sharron angle's crazy juice! >> reporter: a new way to veto legislation. >> and i'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill. >> reporter: it will forever be the campaign where slogans were turned upside down. >> how is that hopey changey

thing working out for you? >> reporter: can we believe she said that? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but it might not be as bad as what the president heard from supporters. >> i'm exhausted of defending you. >> reporter: even candidates from his own party. >> take your endorsement and shove it. >> reporter: we had some of the most profound declarations in campaign history. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: and -- >> rent is too damn high. >> reporter: we can all agree on both those points, right? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but we also heard sharron angle tell her opponent to -- >> man up. >> reporter: and vice president biden tell democrats to -- >> get up. >> reporter: it's the campaign where republicans called independents bad names. >> i've never had a heckler -- >> reporter: democrats called republicans bad names. >> she's a whore. >> reporter: politicians called reporters bad names. >> those are corrupt bastards, chris. that's what is wrong with the media today. >> reporter: if reporters are so bad, why does everyone want to bring us places? >> i'll take you out, buddy. >> reporter: that kind of language can get your hair out of place. >> we saw barbara boxer briefly on television this morning and said what everyone said, god, what is that hair? >> reporter: the bickering gets you down? maybe you should -- >> man up. >> reporter: or -- >> get up.

>> man up. >> get up. >> man up. >> get up. >> reporter: or perhaps listen to this former madame who wants to be a governor. >> the career politicians in albany are the biggest whores in this state. i might be the only person sitting on this stage with the right experience to deal with them. >> reporter: vote 2010. can we finally move on? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: john berman, abc news, in new york. >> certainly was an interesting night last night. of course, the republicans really riding a wave of voter discontent. and of course we'll be hearing from the president this afternoon at about 1:00. >> political pendulum swings yet again in this country. you can stay with abc news throughout the morning for continuing political insight and analysis. >> we'll take you live to washington on "america this morning" and our political reporting team returns on "good morning america."