live picture of washington as we start off on a wednesday morning. good morning, everyone, i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith viera. resounding victory for republicans on election night. disappointing outcome for democrats following a bruising campaign season for sure. the gop needed to pick up 39 seats to regain control of the house. as of right now, they gained 59 and that number is expected to rise as more results filter in. so here's how things stack up in the house this morning, 242 republicans, 193 democrats. and while democrats did hang on to power in the senate, republicans made a big dent in their majority there picking up six seats, bringing the totals there to 46 republicans and 49 democrats. and two independents. >> there was some good news. senate majority leader harry reid survived a fierce al cheng from tea party candidate sharron angle to win his fifth term. we'll talk to him coming up. meanwhile out in alaska, incumbent lisa murkowski who was running as a write-in candidate appears to be in the lead but because she is a write-in candidate, the results there could not be known for days, weeks, we don't know when that result is going to be final. and sarah palin backed republican senator joe miller in that race, so how did the rest of the candidates that she supported fare and how will that affect a possible presidential run by palin? more on that coming up. >> we'll break down the resultless of the morning. let's begin with david gregory, moderator of "meet the press" who has been following the events all night long, and i do mean all night long. >> what a night, and what a story. plain and simple, the american electorate has lurched back to the right. voting, it's anxiety about the economy and frustration with washington. at the polls, a split decision, powered by the tea party, the republicans stormed back to power in the house, firing speaker nancy pelosi, but in the senate, democrats held the majority after gop pickups fell several short of a takeover for president obama now. it's time for a reset. >> i have spent my whole life chasing the american dream. >> reporter: an emotional high for ohio republican john boehner, the man likely to replace nancy pelosi as speaker of the house. he held back tears addressing supporters after a triumphant night for house republicans. >> 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. >> reporter: but the democratic leader in the senate, harry reid, had his own reason to celebrate, narrowly winning re-election in nevada after escaping a near-death encounter with the tea party. >> the bell that just rang isn't the end of the fight, it's the start of the next round. >> reporter: still the conservative insurgency made its mark. >> there's a tea party tidal wave. >> tea party candidate rand paul won in kentucky after a particularly bruising fight. also winning, the 39-year-old cuban-american marco rubio in florida. exit polls reveals that the energized tea party voters turned out in droves. >> the impact of the tea party was larger than many predicted. 40% nationwide said they're for the tea party. 31% are opposed. what do they want? 85% want to limit government. just 12% think it should do more. >> the rain is leighing the station and the president and his advisors and colleagues and supporters can jump on board that train. >> reporter: many viewed the election as a task for sarah palin and the power of her political endorsement. yet, the palin effect wasn't all positive. >> we were victorious because the delaware political system will never be the same. >> reporter: her backing of novice conservative christine o'donnell over a more established republican handed the delaware senate seat to the democrat, chris coons. still unknown, the result in palin's home state of alaska where the senate race is too close to call, thanks to a strong showing by write-in candidate lisa murkowski. >> what is so important is to make sure that every single alaskan voter is heard and we're going to make sure that that process is attended to. >> reporter: besides reid, democrats can point to some other important senate victories. in west virginia governor joe manchin triumphed over a insurgent republican rival to fill that seat. and barbara boxer held on to her seat in california. those wins preserve democratic rule in the senate, after vulnerable incumbents were sent home. and another high profile loss in illinois, the republican mark kirk captured the seat previously held by president obama. >> we have gone through a period where we said government should be doing more. at this stage of the game, the american public is drawing back and saying, i don't know how much government should do. >> a huge driver last night, the almighty independent voter, that voting bloc swinging back to the republican party by a margin of 55 to 40. a huge wave here powerful enough to take down some veteran members of the democratic party. james observer star, transportation committee chairman from minnesota, going back to the watergate days, john spratt, the budget committee chairman had seen waves before but survived them. skelton was taken under as well. it's time for the president to take stock and areact. senate majority leader harry reid is with us now from las vegas, senator reid good morning to you and congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> your race was a real nail biter, there were some polls in nevada that had you down by four points heading into this election. how did you survive when so many incumbents lost their seats as david just pointed out? >> i don't think it's a question of survival, i won by 41,000 votes, and in nevada that's a large number. it was a race that we thought was winnable, we worked very hard and we had a good operation. but i think the message to america today is that we have got to start working together, we have got to stop the name calling, we have got to recognize that the only way we can have progress is by working together. we have got to do that. >> it was a struggle for you to pass health care and financial reform when you had 60 democrats in the senate. a couple months from now, you'll have a small erma jort and a republican-controlled house. so you could be facing two more years of gridlock. >> i hope not. i have not talked to mitch mcconnell today yet. i haven't been to bed actually. i will talk to mitch. we have a good relationship, we have a different senate than we had before. but i think it's time we started working together. that's what progress is all about. not from the far left, not from the far right. we have to work together to build a consensus and move this country along. >> what do you make of the influence of the tea party, not just on your race, but nationally on races? >> well, i think you guys are going to have to work that. in nevada it didn't have much effect. we'll have to see what happens. i think that the main stream of the republican party will sweep them up and i think there's some ideas that came from the people's concern about government and we'll all take a look at that and try to move toward a way that can allow us to work together. >> but there are a lot of tea party candidates that are heading to washington including rand paul, we're about to hear from him. he disagrees with just about everything you stand for. what would you like to say to him this morning? and can you work with him. >> oh, sure, i can. i have no problem with him at all. i listened to his speech last night. he has some set ideas but we all do. but no matter how strong you feel as an individual, we have to work together as a unit. that's the way the founding fathers set up our country. the senate is a unique instrument. the government is one that people have tried to model over the years and it's hard to do. and the senate has worked so well for so long, it will continue to do that no matter what senator elect paul says or any of the others. >> senate majority leader harry reid. thank you so much this morning. tea party republican rand paul defeated democrat jack conway in the kentucky senate race. senator, congratulations to you. >> good morning. glad to be with you. >> you rode a wave of anger and energy to washington so we know you can win an election with anger. can you govern in washington with anger? >> i think people are unhappy with the fact that we have to balance our individual personal budgets, but the government doesn't have to balance theirs. the democrats have proven themselves untrustworthy on this account. there needs to be a rule that you have to balance the budget by law. if you poll that question with republicans, democrats and independents, you'll find the vast majority are for a balanced budget amendment. >> i'm sure you were listening when meredith was talking to senate majority harry reid, and he must have said work together seven or eight times. i'm sure there are a lot of people who said they're not sure harry reid and nancy pelosi worked with others when they did things like pass health care legislation. are you detecting a very different tone from the senate majority leader? >> well, the interesting thing is people complain a lot about gridlock, but whenever you analyze government, state government or federal government, it seems like the most fiscally conservative government is always divided government. debate the healthy and we shouldn't see it as unhealthy that we discuss the nation's problems and try to resolve them. when you have no debate and you don't include republicans in your legislation at all. that's when the country gets upset. and i think a lot of this discontent is about the democrats ramming through legislation that republicans had nothing to do with. >> let me ask you about the relationship between the tea party and the republican party in general moving forward. is this a marriage of convenience? will the honeymoon soon end or are you folks soulmates? >> well, i think the interesting thing is i tell people that the tea party is equal parts chastisement to both parties over not doing enough about the deficit. we're concerned about passing that debt on to our kids and grandkids. we're concerned that the bills are so long that they don't read them. we're concerned that they're mark and stick stuff on the bills that are not related to the bills. we're concerned that regulators are writing laws not approved by government. so it's really about reforming government, it's not about one piece of legislation. it's that the government is broken and not really responsive to the people and not really responsive to the constitution. >> senator elect rand paul, ki hear from your voice you've been up all night. thanks so much. congratulations. virginia congressman eric cantor easily won his sixth term last night. congressman good morning to you and congratulations. >> good morning, meredith. >> since we heard from rand paul, let me start with something that his campaign manager said. he said if republican leaders think they're going to suck us in and continue business as usual, they are wrong. you are the next majority leader in the house. how are you going to deal with that attitude? >> in last night's election, the american people spoke loudly and clearly. what they said was we want a federal government to start listening to us. right now we have an unemployment situation that is unacceptable to all people. what the people of this country are saying is stop what's going on in washington, let's focus on priority one and that is job. >> but they're always saying that. how are you going to deal with that kind of attitude i just described to you? >> meredith, look, the imperative right now is to get the economy moving again. the people are tired of a government that's not delivering results and as senator elect rand paul just said, they're tired of a government that continues to grow with reckless abandon, with no apparent ability to accept the consequences of its actions. so what we're going to do is join forces hopefully and be able to produce results to get people back to work, to cut government spending and to focus on the fact that we in america like to see opportunity, we admire those who are successful and we have got to end this war on success and people are willing to step up and take responsibility. i think all of us in it together can get this country back on track. >> congressman eric cantor, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> it is 7:13. with more, here's matt. chuck todd is nbc's political director. he had a late night as well. good to see you. put it in perspective, the republicans are going to pick up somewhere around 60 seats in the house. compare that to recent midterm elections. >> this is the largest since world war ii, not since right after social security passed. did we see a repudiation of the democrats. it tells you in a phrase that bill clinton said after he lost in 1994, the era of big government is over again and that ends up being the big headline again last night. >> you did a great job showing the republican's path to victory. take me to the senate. any surprises there for you? >> the surprise is harry reid. you can't help but look at what happened in the senate last night. this was a huge republican night. the only reason there's a split decision is because of the tea party. right now if it wasn't for the tea party, if you look at colorado which we haven't called yet and nevada and delaware if you put those in the republican column, they would be at nine. we would sit there and say, hey, washington state is the tenth senate seat and republicans would be looking at control of both. >> we still don't know what's going to happen in alaska. what about the governor's race in florida? when will we know about that? >> there's a dispute about how many ballots are left. the democrats believe there's a lot more to be counted and if so, they're in palm beach county and dade county. this is familiar. >> we've been there. >> florida, one of the big bright spots for republicans overall, the only reason rick scott is struggling here is because of his personal problems. and there's 2012 consequences for president obama. >> you had a big night too. appreciate you being here this morning. the election results can be seen in large part as a referendum on president obama's first two years in office. and that has some people looking ahead to 2012. nbc's andrea mitchell has more on that. good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. republicans haven't finished their viblthry lap yet and they're already eyeing the other end of pennsylvania avenue launching their claims to reclaim the white house. republicans basking in the glow of victory are now dreaming of an even bigger prize, the republicans known for picking their heir apparent are now entering unfamiliar territory, with their new partners, tea party activisactivists. >> republicans are usually eye article. it's sort of whose turn is it to win the nomination. this time there's a real vacuum. >> in 2012, the republican primaries may look more like the ncaa basketball tournament. first the establishment bracket, including former massachusetts governor mitt romney who ran in 2008. tim pawlenty, the former governor of minnesota. mississippi governor halle barbour. indiana governor mitch daniels. south dakota senator john thune and new jersey governor chris christie. and former florida governor jeb bush. analysts say one of these candidates may be best equipped to take on president obama. >> pawlenty, barbour, mitch daniels, those are three that i'm going to be watching very, very carefully. >> and there's the grass roots bracket, tea party favorites who could attract evangelical support especially in the key states of iowa and south carolina. former arkansas governor mike huckabee ran before and could again, along with perennial hopeful former house speaker newt gingrich. but they may all be eclipsed by sarah palin who admits she is considering a run. >> if there's nobody else to do it, then of course i would believe that we should do this. >> reporter: the key question when it comes to picking the nominee, will the tea party movement have veto power over the gop establishment or want to choose one of their own? >> i think the tea party will be involved in choosing our nominee. but i don't think it will be anything like monolithic. >> and will barack obama, weakened after the midterm debate face a challenger within his own party? >> it's on to the next fight. it's on to the next battle. it's on to 2012! >> reporter: the other outside possibility, a third party candidate. if sarah palin divides the republicans, don't rule out a run by new york city mayor mike bloomberg, and he could pay his own way. presidents obama will be under a lot of pressure to retool his own message after this defeat. that begins with his post election news conference later today. >> i'll bring chuck and david into the conversation. i still have a headache from 2010. the headline if there is one? >> i would have to say it's a huge republican victory, with an asterisk and the asterisk is the senate. and i say this because all of a sudden if i'm speaker designate john boehner, i'm feeling great and i don't have to worry about a republican senate. i get to be my own guy, i get to feed the tea party whatever they want me to vote on, and then i can just say, hey, the democratic senate and the democratic president are holding everything up >> i did what i could. >> let's pick up on what you said and talk about these independents, we learned something about them, they are a fickle group and they don't have a lot of patience and just as they didn't have patience with the democrats over these last few years and got rid of them, what are they going to be expecting from republicans over these next two years? >> make no mistake this is the new normal now. this group can move again in the next two years. i think the big message here is that americans don't want government to play the role that it's been playing. it wants it to play a smaller role. and to your point, the independent voters are going to render that judgment and quickly. they want to see less government, less spending, that's the focus now, cutting government spending, that's what you're going to hear republicans talk about every day, every week. >> but i confer i don't f you have the republican controlled house and democratic controlled senate, if anything will get done. >> that's the new fear, if we're in a new era of gridlock. >> when you were interviewing rand paul, they have support for gridlock. they want less government and that means they don't want action from congress. i think the real lesson is the obama coalition has disappeared in two years. the young people, the independents the minorities, they were not there for him. >> how is he going to get them back? >> he has to retool the message. i'm not certain that it's possible to put it together that quickly without either fighting with congress or working with congress. i'm not sure how he reaches outs and figures out the strategy. >> futons for everybody. >> take a little nap. >> andrea david and chuck, thank you so much. >> president obama's news conference is later today. nbc news will bring it to you live at 1:00 p.m. eastern time and have much more on the election coming up. >> let's get a check of the weather from al. >> we have got a big storm system in the gulf, that's going to be firing up and bringing a lot of rain, the spin around this upper level low that's bringing anywhere from one to three inches of rain. windy conditions in the pacific northwest. showers as a cold front moves through the central great lakes, we'll look at plenty of sunshine, warmer than usual temperatures, record setting temperatures in the southwest into souther