Some political pundits are spinning the Republicans' Senate takeover as a decree from the US electorate that Americans want President Obama's policies to be "more Republican."
One-third of the Senate comes up for reelection every two years, and by luck of the draw, the states in this year's batch are disproportionately conservative.
With revelations of contagion among health care workers in Dallas, including one who traveled cross country by plane after being infected, Ebola panic is rising.