Biodun@bbcnews.com

4 November 2010 Last updated at 17:27 ET

By Katie Connolly BBC News, Washington

Florida Senator-elect Marco Rubio was one of the Republicans riding the wave of support

US Elections 2010

Just two years ago, the campaign apparatus of President Barack Obama was lauded for pulling a diverse mix of voters to the polls. Pundits dubbed it "the Obama coalition".

Drawing heavily from young people, African-Americans, Hispanics, women and university-educated people, the Obama coalition looked set to become the new norm in Democratic politics, a new political force that would usher in an era of Democratic dominance.

On Tuesday, the Obama coalition fell apart.

Some commentators saw the fractures coming. In November 2008, Amy Walter, then of the National Journal, wrote: "The good news for Obama is that [his coalition is] ready for him to turn the page. But the bad news is that they expect him to - and if he does, it's still not clear they'll stick with him."

Others warned that the voters Mr Obama had relied upon in 2008 had always had a poor record of turning out for mid-term elections. That was borne out this year: in 2008, 18% of voters were under 30. On Tuesday, just 9% were.

But Tuesday's exit polls suggest that not only did crucial parts of the Obama coalition stay home, many who actually went to the polls deserted the president's Democrats. Of those under-30 voters, 57% voted for Democrats, compared with 66% who voted for Mr Obama in 2008.

Demographic shifts

Perhaps the biggest shift was among first-time voters - notably young people and blacks - who Mr Obama got to the polls in astonishing numbers. In 2008, 11% of voters entered a polling booth for the first time, and 69% of them voted for Mr Obama.

Older voters continued to show a preference for conservatives

In 2010, only 3% of voters said it was their first time, and among them, 49% voted Democrat, and 46% voted Republican.

The most decisive group in US elections are self-identified "independent" voters. In 2008, Obama won this group with an eight percentage-point margin. This year, they gave Republicans a 15-point advantage.

Women have preferred Democratic candidates in all but one of the past 14 election years - that was in 2002, when America was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. Mr Obama won the women's vote by a whopping 13 points in 2008. Yet on Tuesday, women voted for Democrats and Republicans in equal numbers.

As a proportion of the electorate, fewer blacks and Hispanics voted in 2010 than 2008 - which is consistent with other mid-term elections. But the degree to which they voted for Democrats also declined - by five points among African-Americans and three points among Hispanics.

Democratic support from Asian voters, who only make up about 1-2% of the electorate, declined by six points. (One exception though was Nevada, where 79% of Asians voted for Democratic Senator Harry Reid, perhaps prompted by his opponent's remark that a group of Hispanic students "looked like Asians" to her.)

As a group, older voters have never cared much for Mr Obama. This year, older voters continued to stay away from his Democrats, voting 59% Republican.

Similarly, in 2008, Mr Obama struggled to win over those white working class voters who had long been core Democratic voters. In 2010, white working class men preferred Republicans by 13 points; women in the same category preferred them by 8 points.

Tea Party influence

The Tea Party wasn't a factor in the 2008 election - it didn't even exist then. But in the past two years it has become a rambunctious political force, and one that seems to have divided the country.

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Still, 55% of voters said that the Tea Party wasn't a factor in their votes, while 23% said their vote was intended to send a message of support to the Tea Party, and 18% said they voted to voice their opposition”

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About 40% of voters say they support the movement and its goals; 31% oppose it and 24% claim to be neutral about it.

Unsurprisingly, the split follows party lines: of those who strongly oppose the movement (23%) 90% voted for Democrats while of those who strongly support the Tea Party (21%), 91% voted Republican.

Those who described themselves as neutral with regard to the Tea Party split fairly evenly between Republicans and Democrats - 50% and 47% respectively.

Still, 55% of voters said that the Tea Party wasn't a factor in their votes, while 23% said their vote was intended to send a message of support to the Tea Party, and 18% said they voted to voice their opposition.

Mr Obama was more of a factor - 37% cast their ballots to show opposition to the president; just under a quarter to show support. But 36% weren't concerned with the president at all on Tuesday.

Economy anxiety

Anger was the defining characteristic of the 2010 election, with voters determined to punish Mr Obama and the Democrats for the country's sluggish economy and anaemic job numbers.

According to exit polling conducted by ABC News, 88% of voters cited the economy as the number one issue influencing their vote, and at least half of them said they were "very worried" about it.

Perhaps even more telling is that almost three in 10 voters told ABC's pollsters that somebody in their household had lost a job in the past two years.

Antipathy towards government was another motivating factor, with 73% of voters describing themselves as angry or dissatisfied with Washington DC.

Beyond just the economy, Mr Obama's policies have fallen out of favour, with 53% of people saying his actions will hurt America over the longer term, rather than help it.

Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebelius, Pete Rouse

President Barack Obama makes a statement to reporters after meeting with his staff and Cabinet members in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is at left, and Chief of Staff Pete Rouse is at center. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)View more photos

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sought Thursday to retake the political initiative after a bruising election, inviting Republican and Democratic congressional leaders for talks and challenging his Cabinet to make Washington work better.

"I want us to talk substantively about how we can move the American people's agenda forward," Obamasaid of the upcoming meeting with lawmakers. "It's not just going to be a photo op."

The Nov. 18 meeting will be closely watched, in particular, for any signs of elusive progress between Obama and his two frequent Republican antagonists, incoming House Speaker-in-Waiting John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. They will be joined by the top Democrats in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Four other lawmakers will join the meeting: Republicans Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, and Democrats Rep.Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin .

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said no staff would take part in the meeting, which will also include a working and social dinner.Gibbs said he expects the meeting to be the first of many.

While the White House said the date of the meeting was set,McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said the date and time were still being worked out. Stewart said McConnell is "encouraged" by the chance to meet with Obama to discuss issues including trade, reducing spending and increasing domestic energy production.

But McConnell himself threw down the gauntlet, taking a confrontational tone in a speech to the conservative-oriented Heritage Institution. He called there for Senate votes to repeal or erode Obama's signature health care law, to cut spending and to shrink government.

"The only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things," McConnell said. He also said that Obama would have to move toward GOP positions on critical issues if he wants to save his agenda.

Tuesday's elections amounted to a national political reset, shifting control of the House to Republicans when the new Congress convenes early next year.

"It's clear that the voters sent a message, which is that they want us to focus on the economy and jobs," Obama told reporters, with Cabinet members at his side. The president said he instructed his Cabinet to make a "sincere and consistent" effort to change how Washington works, something he acknowledges has been a failing of his administration so far.

The president said he wants the bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders to be a substantive discussion on the economy, tax cuts and unemployment insurance. He wants to focus on the busy legislative agenda that awaits Congress when lawmakers return for a lame-duck session. Among the top front-burner issues: renewing Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at year's end.

Aware that he's been pegged as antibusiness, Obama said, "We've got to provide businesses with some certainty about what their tax landscape is going to look like." He added that it's critical for middle class families to have that same sense of reassurance.

Gibbs said Thursday that while extending tax cuts permanently for upper income earners "is something the president does not believe is a good idea", Obama would be open to the possibility of extending the cuts for one or two years.

Obama also said the work that needs to be done during this month's legislative session extends to foreign policy. Specifically, he said, the Senate should ratify a new arms control treaty with Russia.Obama said the START treaty, which would cut U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals by one-fourth, is something that is essential to the country's national security and should have bipartisan support.

More broadly, Obama said: "What's going to be critically important over the coming months is going to be creating a better working relationship between this White House and the congressional leadership that's coming in."

The gap between the announcement of an Obama-Hill leadership meeting and the session itself -- two weeks from now _is due toObama's foreign travels. He will be on a four-country trip to Asia from Friday through Nov. 14.

The president said one of his top priorities on the trip is to open Asian markets to U.S. companies so they can sell in the region, a development Obama said would help create jobs at home.

"My hope is that we've got some specific announcements to show the connection between what we're doing overseas and what happens over here at home in terms of job growth and economic growth," Obama said.

The president will also hold a meeting at the White House with newly elected Democratic and Republican governors on Dec. 2.

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