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Democrats on Wednesday morning began sorting through the wreckage of disastrous midterm elections in which losses eclipsed even their worst fears.

The scale of the defeats, taken together, was breathtaking: a Senate majority lost, more than a dozen House seats swept away, and Democrats ousted from governors mansions across the country.

The drubbing is sure to spark a round of soul-searching, as Democrats ponder whether President Obama is to blame or whether something deeper has gone wrong in the party that could threaten its chances of retaining the White House in 2016.

Finger-pointing had begun between Senate Democrats and the White House even before every race has been decided. The blame game is sure to get worse in the coming days.

The presidents approval rating is barely 40 percent, David Krone, chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Washington Post reporters. What else more is there to say? ...He wasnt going to play well in North Carolina or Iowa or New Hampshire. Im sorry. It doesnt mean that the message was bad, but sometimes the messenger isnt good.

Democratic losses were staggering in the Senate. The hopes of party strategists that ominous final polls might have been overstating the Republican advantage proved hollow.

If anything, the reverse proved true: In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst defeated Rep. Bruce Braley (D) by almost 9 percentage points; in Colorado, incumbent Sen. Mark Udall (D) went down to Rep. Cory Gardner (R) by about 5 percentage points. Even North Carolina, the battleground state about which Democratic strategists were most confident, fell: Sen. Kay Hagan (D) lost out to the GOPs Thom Tillis there by about 50,000 votes.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheens (D) achievement in holding off former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) in New Hampshire was the only significant bright spot for the party. In the House, longtime incumbents, such as Reps. John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) were swept away by the GOP wave.

Losses in governors races which the White House had touted last week as a better barometer of a successful evening were even more shocking. Republicans prevailed in states that are normally considered solid blue, including Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois.

According to national exit poll data, most voters said they were frustrated with Washington gridlock and with the performance of both parties, but President Obamas approval ratings were particularly dismal.

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Democrats sift through the debris