Republican control of Senate is not about passing legislation...

[kentuck]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/theres-1-thing-at-stake-in-the-senate-race.html

<snip>
There are lots of people telling you what the race for control of the Senate is about. Maybe it’s about Republicans turning the Senate into a temple of bipartisan governance. Or it’s about stopping President Obama from making deals to cut Social Security, or transferring terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to prisons in Kansas (where they will break out and rampage through the countryside).

It’s not actually about any of those things. The contest to control the Senate is about one thing: whether Obama can confirm judges and staff his administration. This can all be seen through the power of political science.

<snip>
Mmm, nope. The legislative dynamics in Washington are very simple. Gridlock exists because Obama and House Republicans cannot agree on legislation. If Obama and the House could agree on legislation, their deal would be approved by a Democratic-controlled Senate or by a Republican-controlled Senate. There are no plausible circumstances in which the Senate would block a deal struck between the House and Obama, because, whichever party controls the Senate, its ideological center will sit comfortably inside in the enormous space between Obama and the House Republicans. Ergo, the party that controls the Senate has no impact on legislative outcomes.

<snip>
The race to control the Senate is not about legislation, because the pivotal negotiations on any legislation involve Obama and the House. Appointments are a different story, because the House has no power over appointments. The Senate has power over appointments. And this is the power that lies on the razor’s edge.

......more at link

[tuhaybey]

1. Indeed it is not

Their goal this election is to increase their ability to obstruct. Right now, the Senate is sometimes able to pass legislation and leave it on the House's stoop in a way that forces the House to own up to what it is doing. They believe that if they take the Senate, they will be able to obstruct everything with impunity.

Look at the economic costs of Republican obstruction. The area between that green line and that blue line is how much we've sacrificed to Republican obstruction over the years.

[INdemo]

2. iT ABOUT CARRYING OUT THE KOCH BROTHERS AGENDA

Its about approving the keystone pipeline,its about lowering the EPA restrictions on fracking.Its about abolishing net neutrality.
As far as Obama appointments..Well have they ever approved any without a struggle with a Democratic Senate?..

Whats gonna happen if they gain control? I think we will see Democrats run and hide and refuse to filibuster as the Repukes did because as before the spineless Democrats will run and hid and say just wait till 2016.."we wont make any waves" and "we'll get it back"
That is their thinking and the way some Democrats are staying in their cocoon this election I don't really think some of the corporatist's or Blue Dogs don't really give a shit about a Majority.
A Party with 8% approval rating in Congress is going to kick ass and take control. Can you believe that ?

[Historic NY]

3. It WILL be about undoing what this administration has accomplished...

make no mistake about that...its part & parcel of the let him fail scheme, to deny him a place in history. Make him a failure legitimizes the previous administration of the shrub.

[pinboy3niner]

4. It's never about just one thing

It's always about multiple things. They may be prioritized, but it's always about gaining advantage on multiple levels.