Popular vote since 1992

[Mechaman]

Going back to the observations about the "presidential eras": It should be noted that in the strongly Republican Presidential era (1968-1992) there was only one Democratic President.  However, Democrats controlled the US House during that entire period (occasionally having over 60% power) and were in the Senate minority (1981-1987) for only six of those years.

On the flip side, we have this most recent "era" from 1992-present where the Democrats have won the popular vote four out of five times but have had control of Congress for only six years total out of a nearly twenty year period.  In the US Senate they've done a little better, holding the US Senate from 1993-1995, 2001-2003, and then from 2007-present (about ten years)  Republicans have had periods of full congressional control from 1995-2001 (six years), 2003-2007 (four years), and periods of dominance in the House of Representatives from 1995-2007 (12 years) and now from 2011-present (2 years come November).  This means that half of the time the GOP has had full Congressional control (both houses) and has held the US House for 70% of the time since 1993.  The Democrats have only had full Congressional control for 30% of the time and have held one house of congress (the US Senate) for half the time.

It seems that it is becoming easier for Republicans to win Congressional Elections now days while it is becoming easy for Democrats to win presidential elections.  As a result, American politics probably won't see any enormous political shift from what it has seen in the past decade and a half (since most party members seem to be "believers" now days instead of merely "members").