| | 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 indicated that 50% of voters identified themselves with the Democrats 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 (although, contrary to [[liberal denial]], over 800,000 illegal immigrants likely voted<ref>Lucas, Fred, "[http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/28/more-than-800000-noncitizens-could-have-voted-in-2016-election-experts-say/ More Than 800,000 Noncitizens May Have Voted in 2016 Election, Expert Says]," ''The Daily Signal''.</ref><ref>O'Reilly, Bill (November 29, 2016). [http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2016/11/29/bill-oreilly-amazing-amount-confusion-over-illegal-aliens-voting/ Bill O'Reilly: Amazing amount of confusion over illegal aliens voting]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 2016.</ref><ref>Scarborough, Rowan (January 26, 2017). [http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/26/hillary-clinton-received-800000-votes-from-nonciti/ Trump argument bolstered: Clinton could have received 800,000 votes from noncitizens, study finds]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 27, 2017.</ref>), and Republican candidates received 49.13% of the nationwide total votes cast for House races in 2016 and won 55.4% of U.S. House seats.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2016|title=United States House of Representatives elections, 2016|accessdate=February 8, 2017}}</ref> However, because the Presidential election is decided by the Electoral College and the House seats are elected by defined districts, Republicans won the White House as well as the 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 indicated that 50% of voters identified themselves with the Democrats 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 (although, contrary to [[liberal denial]], over 800,000 illegal immigrants likely voted<ref>Lucas, Fred, "[http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/28/more-than-800000-noncitizens-could-have-voted-in-2016-election-experts-say/ More Than 800,000 Noncitizens May Have Voted in 2016 Election, Expert Says]," ''The Daily Signal''.</ref><ref>O'Reilly, Bill (November 29, 2016). [http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2016/11/29/bill-oreilly-amazing-amount-confusion-over-illegal-aliens-voting/ Bill O'Reilly: Amazing amount of confusion over illegal aliens voting]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 2016.</ref><ref>Scarborough, Rowan (January 26, 2017). [http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/26/hillary-clinton-received-800000-votes-from-nonciti/ Trump argument bolstered: Clinton could have received 800,000 votes from noncitizens, study finds]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 27, 2017.</ref>), and Republican candidates received 49.13% of the nationwide total votes cast for House races in 2016 and won 55.4% of U.S. House seats.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2016|title=United States House of Representatives elections, 2016|accessdate=February 8, 2017}}</ref> However, because the Presidential election is decided by the Electoral College and the House seats are elected by defined districts, Republicans won the White House as well as the majority of House seats. |