The new Congress is shaping up to be strikingly similar to the one that exists now: a House that Republicans will run with an approximately 50-seat margin, and a Senate narrowly controlled by Democrats.

Whether it be Romney or Obama in the White House, with a divided government, the next two years will be enormously difficult for the president. A re-elected Obama probably would face continued head-knocking clashes with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, over taxes, spurring the economy, tackling the mushrooming national debt and other issues. And Romney's issue would be a Democratic-led Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could refuse to even debate important pieces of the Republican agenda. Read More