Changes

In the doldrums after 2000, the party led by [[anti-war]] radicals roared back with major gains in 2006, which it expanded in 2008 to sweep control of the national government, and leave the GOP in a state of confusion and decline. The GOP bounced back in 2009, with near-unanimous opposition to contentious Democratic policies, especially stimulus spending and Obamacare. Polls show Obama's popularity began to erode after his [[Barack Obama approval ratings#Declines after the Gates flap|anti-police stance]] became apparent in the summer of 2009.

In the doldrums after 2000, the party led by [[anti-war]] radicals roared back with major gains in 2006, which it expanded in 2008 to sweep control of the national government, and leave the GOP in a state of confusion and decline. The GOP bounced back in 2009, with near-unanimous opposition to contentious Democratic policies, especially stimulus spending and Obamacare. Polls show Obama's popularity began to erode after his [[Barack Obama approval ratings#Declines after the Gates flap|anti-police stance]] became apparent in the summer of 2009.

For the first two Obama years, the Democrats controlled the White House and a veto-proof Congress, ramming through unpopular legislation without bipartisan support such as [[Obamacare]]. In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican party won decisive control of the House of Representatives; suburbs and rural areas are still more likely to be in Republican hands.<ref>[http://www.multistate.com/Site.nsf/Elections2006PostMaps?OpenPage Multistate.com] Post-Election 2006 Maps</ref> Polls at the time showed 50% of voters identify themselves with the Democratic Party as opposed to 35% for the Republican Party.<ref>[http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312 Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007] Pew Research Center, 22 March 2007</ref> Democrats allegedly "won" the popular vote for President in 2016 by 2.7 million votes largely from California, where [[Hillary Clinton]] was claimed to have "won" by a 4.2 million margin and illegal aliens have been illegally "allowed" to vote, although that vote number is widely disputed due to accusations of vote fraud committed by the Democrats by having illegals, prisoners, voters registered in more than one state and "the dead" vote for them (because of this, the actual popular vote for Hillary is most likely well below that of Republican opponent [[Donald Trump]]). However, because the Presidential election is decided by the Electoral College, Republicans won the White House. Although the total votes for Democratic House candidates nationwide were higher than the total for Republicans, Republicans also won majority of House seats.

For the first two Obama years, the Democrats controlled the White House and a veto-proof Congress, ramming through unpopular legislation without bipartisan support such as [[Obamacare]]. In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican party won decisive control of the House of Representatives; suburbs and rural areas are still more likely to be in Republican hands.<ref>[http://www.multistate.com/Site.nsf/Elections2006PostMaps?OpenPage Multistate.com] Post-Election 2006 Maps</ref> Polls at the time showed 50% of voters identify themselves with the Democratic Party as opposed to 35% for the Republican Party.<ref>[http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312 Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007] Pew Research Center, 22 March 2007</ref> On the one hand, the Democrats claim to have won the popular vote for President in 2016 by more than 2.7 million votes, and the nationwide total votes cast for Democratic Congressional House candidates exceed those cast for Republican candidates. However, because the Presidential election is decided by the Electoral College and the House seats are elected by defined and allegedly gerrymandered districts, Republicans won the White House as well as majority of House seats.

==Policies and criticism==

==Policies and criticism==