[stanne]

Obama is doing this to retain the senate? Why? So he’ll have people to work with?

[Dave W]

Well, no. It is much better for Obama to have the Senate block any Republican bill - then Obama does not have to deal with it.

With both houses led by Republicans (yes, I know, insert joke here), Obama will have to defend his policies and veto bills that can make it past the 60 votes needed in the Senate.

A Senate in Republican hands also means that they can investigate and conduct oversight on anything they want. As you may have noticed, only the House is conducting any kind of oversight with the IRS. If the pubbies win the senate, they can also conduct hearings and make life miserable for the White House.