Barack Obama's olive branch to Republicans after huge defeats

An embattled Barack Obama offered an olive branch to his political enemies today after dramatic mid-term losses cast doubt on his re-election in 2012.

The US President suffered a wave of huge Congressional defeats at the hands of a resurgent Republican Party as voters expressed their anger over the state of the economy and his leadership.

In a remarkable comeback from two years ago, when the Democrats won a landslide for the presidency and Congress, the Republicans saw their biggest swing for nearly 70 years.

The party was on course to gain more than 60 seats in the House of Representatives, a rout bigger even than the 1994 mid-terms. However, the Republicans fell short of gaining control of the Senate, winning only six of the 10 seats needed.

As well as the President's home state of Illinois, the Democrats lost key seats in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin. Amid fears of gridlock in Washington, President Obama congratulated the newly-elected House Speaker John Boehner and said he hoped that "common ground" could be found between the two sides over the next two years.

But Mr Boehner said: "Across the country we are witnessing a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government. For far too long, Washington's been doing what's best for Washington, not what's best for the American people. Tonight, that begins to change."

Republicans have said they want to cut $100 billion in the first year and try to roll back Mr Obama's overhauls of health care and financial regulations. However, his fellow Senate victor in Florida, Marco Rubio, sounded a note of caution. "We make a grave mistake if we believe tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican Party," he said after defeating both independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

"What they are is a second chance — a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago."

Backed by 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement had managed to replace establishment Republican candidates with their candidates in some areas.

Republican red tide: click below for a US election map