35 senates seats are up for election next week, alongside the entire House of Representatives. Both Chambers are currently held by the Democrats but in the Senate this majority is merely 51-49 which means that the Republicans can filibuster any Bill that would come from an Obama White House (unless of course the nuclear option is used).
The magic number to defeat a filibuster is 60 and with 23 of the 35 senate seats up for election being Republican ones, that number is looking more and more achievable, even more so when you realise that the only retiring Senators are Republican ones, 5 have decided to step down meaning that Republicans in those seats lose the incumbency factor.
Worse case scenario for the Republicans, they lose 23 seats and the Democrats end up with a filibuster proof 74 seats in the Senate.
But that would never happen.
The most conservative estimates shows the Democrats picking up 4 seats from the GOP and losing none (giving them 55), these estimates also have a further 6 seats, all Republican, as NOC which means that come election night the Senate race could be the most interesting, if as it appears is happening, Obama will walk it. Most pundits expect the Democrats to end up with 59.
But why? Just because you vote one way for President doesn't mean you'll vote the same way for Congress. In fact with a Democratic Congress this should be true. Straight ticket voting (the practice of voting for the same party in all races you can vote in) has increased in the last few elections. This is usually the case when someone is so irritated they end up voting the same way to give a good kicking (c.f. Boris Johnson winning in London and the Conservatives increasing their share on the Assembly even with a list system in place or the SNP going from zero to hero in Scotland even with a constituency and regional vote).
So what would happen to the separation of powers? Parliamentarians in any system need to worry about their seats, they will not vote for an unpopular Bill just because it came from their party leader, besides which, with only two major parties in the US, the ties of allegiance are not so strong. If you took all the different camps (moderate Republican, conservative Democrat etc.) you could end up with quite a few parties.
However, Senators elected now may see Obama as the one to thank for their seats, they would also have 6 years to shake off any unpopularity surrounding their voting record (by which time Obama could be gone as well). Expect to see a few of the more important Bills coming up first if the magic 60 is reached.
EDIT: Inching ever closer now, Ted Stevens, the longest serving Senator from Alaska has been found guilty of corruption. GOP Ted, is famous for the bridge to nowhere project.
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