Election Day on Tuesday gave Republicans a majority in the Senate. “The Republican strategy was to blame Obama for everything and then go after the senators who supported Obama. What they did not do is tell the American people their agenda,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday. Voter turnout was a record low in Vermont. Weak turnout was the rule elsewhere. As one way to help revive democracy in America, Sanders on Friday proposed making Election Day a national holiday. Also on Friday, the Labor Department said the broadest gauge of unemployment in October was 11.5 percent. Watch CNN

Republicans Take Senate The strategy that Republicans used to capture control of the Senate was to use filibusters to block action on jobs and the economy and the environment and then blame President Obama for not doing anything. Because Republicans did not spell out an agenda of their own, “many of the people that voted Republican are going to be very surprised what comes up in the Senate in a couple of months,"  Sanders told radio host Bill Press on Wednesday. "They did not vote for cuts in Social Security and Medicare, but that’s what the Republicans will fight for. They did not vote for tax breaks for billionaires; but that’s what the Republicans will give them. They did not vote to ignore raising the minimum wage, but that’s what Republicans will do." Listen,

Democracy Day Coming off an Election Day with extremely low voter turnout, Sanders announced on Friday that he will introduce legislation to make Election Day a national holiday.  “In America, we should be celebrating our democracy and doing everything possible to make it easier for people to participate in the political process.  Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote.  While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy,” said Sanders, who was not on the ballot on Tuesday.  In Vermont, only 43.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots, the worst turnout on record, according to an Associated Press analysis. Nationwide, preliminary indications are that the total turnout was only 36.6 percent, according to the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida.

Unemployment The unemployment rate in October was 5.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but 11.5 percent were jobless when the statisticians counted workers forced to settle for part-time jobs and those who have given up looking for work. All told, 18.2 million Americans are unemployed or under-employed. The youth unemployment rate is 18.6 percent. The African-American youth unemployment rate is 32.6 percent. Sanders has championed a massive effort to rebuild roads and bridges, saying the much-needed repairs also would create jobs. “In my view, what we have got to do as a major priority is create millions of decent-paying jobs in this country and I think the best way to do that is rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. 

Chevron Can’t Buy City Hall Chevron spent more than $3 million to try to oust progressive City Council members in Richmond, California, where one of its largest refineries is located. On Tuesday, however, a slate of candidates critical of the oil giant was victorious. Sanders appeared at a rally to decry the corporate spending. “If Chevron can roll over you, they and their buddies will roll over every community in America," Sanders had told a crowd at City Hall. Read more

Minimum Wage The federal minimum wage is stuck at $7.25 an hour but four states passed minimum wage increases, from $8.50 in Arkansas by 2017 to $9.75 in Alaska by 2016. South Dakota and Nebraska also raised their minimum wage. Wisconsin voters passed a non-binding resolution calling for a $10 wage. Sanders is a co-sponsor of legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, but many Republicans, who now control the Senate, favor abolishing the minimum wage.