Republicans ride voter unrest to control of House

"We've been given a second chance and a golden opportunity," Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, No. 2 Republican in the House, said as his party reaped a windfall from independent voters and tea party activists. He called the outcome a rejection of Obama more than an endorsement of the GOP, cautioning fellow Republicans they must to work to win public confidence.

"People want to see results," he said on CBS's "The Early Show." "They want to see the government go on a diet just like they have."

Republicans scored the biggest party turnover in more than 70 years Tuesday with their win in the House and, in doing so, will dethrone Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi — a prime target of their campaign — who had crashed a political glass ceiling and made history with her elevation to speaker four years ago.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, overcame a tea party challenge from Republican Sharron Angle in one of the election's most brutally fought races. Sizing up the new order, Reid said he wants to preserve Obama's sweeping health care law and let taxes rise on upper income Americans but "I'm not bullheaded."

"If we need to work something out with the people who are really rich, I'll have to look at that," he told CNN's "American Morning." "If there's some tweaking we need to do with the health care bill, I'm ready for some tweaking. But I'm not going to in any way denigrate the great work we did as a country, and saving America from bankruptcy because of the insurance industry bankrupting us."

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